New measures to tackle organised crime

Police on Monday announced eight measures aimed at tackling organised crime and football violence, including increasing the number of front-line officers, more patrols and inspections on all sports fans attending games.

“These measures will be implemented immediately – as of tonight,” Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis said.

Five of the measures aim to combat serious and organised crime, while the remaining three target stadium violence.

The number of officers working on the front lines will increase, while pedestrian and vehicle patrols across the country will ramp up.

Additionally, the police units dealing with financial crime and data will be strengthened.

Lastly, financial investigations to identify and seize finances which stem from illegal activities will increase.

Hartsiotis underlined there were two ways to tackle crime: prevention and clampdown.

“There are no magic recipes. Cyprus will not invent a magic wand that can immediately eradicate violence and crime. We will do everything possible.”

Police said the developments come after a meeting on January 17 at the justice ministry following an attempted murder in Nicosia, a car arson attack on a public prosecutor in Paphos and a raid at the central prisons amid growing fears that the underworld has the upper hand over the police force.

For security reasons, additional measures to ensure police effectiveness cannot be published, the force specified.

Where stadium violence is concerned, police measures will be reinforced and all individuals entering sports venues will be thoroughly checked. To this end, police will determine the arrival time of fans at specific matches.

Fan clubs across the country will be subject to more scrutiny and police will be able to order their closure whenever appropriate.

Additionally, should police determine that it is not safe to conduct a match, it will order that it is stopped or not held at all.

Stadium violence has shot up recently, with the president saying if it continues then all matches will be held without the presence of fans. On Friday, the Cyprus Football Association announced a ban on away fans from all competitive football matches for the remainder of the season, as of January 26.

Hartsiotis stressed all of these measures have already been in place “but all we can do now is strengthen and reinforce the existing measures. This is a practice which exists around the world.”

He assured the public that results would be seen but shut down the question on whether police have the numbers to implement all the measures.

“These matters are not up for public discussion. I would like to believe that the measures will have results needed to reduce the outbreak of violence as much as possible.

“Details and individual issues are not suitable for public discussion.”

Asked if foreign experts will be roped in to advise the government, Hartsiotis stressed he would not divulge more than what was publicly announced.

Nonetheless “there are ways to check whether the measures are effective. You can be sure of that.”

He also underlined that the package of measures also takes into accounts concerns over corruption within the force.

The justice ministry has also submitted a bill to parliament last week including provisions to include CCTV footage in every sports stadium used for first league games, irrespective of the size of the arena.

Under the bill’s provisions, police will also be permitted to carry out narcotests and alcotests on sports fans, banning their entrance if they test positive.

The bill also seeks to increase by 10 years the duration of the ban to the fans from attending the game, as well involving police in checks before a sports fan club card is issued.