A case that shakes confidence in the justice system has come to light: a 32-year-old Romanian national, charged with attempted murder, managed to leave Cyprus without anyone stopping him.
Last November, the young man stabbed his 49-year-old Israeli employer in the neck in Larnaca. He was immediately arrested, remanded in custody, and referred to criminal court. However, following a psychiatric evaluation, he was transferred to Athalassa Hospital instead of the Central Prisons.
That is where a cascade of systemic failures began. The accused failed to appear at his court hearing on 3 February. An arrest warrant was issued but never executed. The defendant was discharged from hospital and, under suspicious circumstances, travelled unimpeded to Romania.
The 32-year-old slipped past at least five state services — the Police, Central Prisons, Mental Health Services, the Legal Service, and the Court Registry.
On 27 February, the Attorney General formally requested Police Chief Themisto Arnaoutis to investigate how this failure occurred. Justice Minister Kostas Fytiris has already raised the matter with police leadership.
The case raises the most serious questions about the functioning of Cyprus’s judicial and correctional system. How did a suspect charged with a felony pass through so many checkpoints without being stopped?
