ATTORNEY-general Petros Clerides has appointed a three-person committee to investigate the events which led to a plainclothes police officer shooting and severely injuring an alleged robber at a bakery in Lakatamia on Monday.
Police handed over evidence along with CCTV footage from the incident to the committee yesterday.
The officer who shot and injured the 34-year-old alleged knife-wielding robber on Monday was performing his duty as a policeman and had no other option but to fire, according to police association head Andreas Symeou.
According to police the officer had initially asked the suspect to surrender and hand over the knife but he allegedly refused, and the officer was forced to shoot him in the foot as a warning. Despite the policeman’s repeated demands that the suspect drop his knife, he refused to do so, resulting in the officer having to shoot him again, once in the chest and once in the head. The suspect is in critical condition at the Nicosia General Hospital.
“I fully support the officer, not only because he is a member of the force but because he did his job as he was supposed to and prevented irreparable harm,” he said.
Symeou added that according to confirmed reports, the policeman could not have acted differently as the assailant was armed with a knife and was prepared to use it on him, a customer, or employee of the bakery.
He expressed the certainty that the investigation ordered by Justice Minister, Ionas Nicolaou, would find the officer innocent of any wrongdoing. The association would demand his promotion, Symeou said, adding that the officer’s actions would send a message to criminals.
The 34-year-old alleged robber was named as Panicos Argyrou from Akaki. Police suspect him of a series of robberies – as many as 25 - carried out on bakeries in the Nicosia district over the last two months.
The use of guns by police is the last and most painful form of state interventionism in constitutionally protected human rights, according to Ombudswoman, Eliza Savvidou’s office. “In cases where the use of guns is unavoidable it should be taken as a last resort and as an exceptional measure, to be exercised sparingly, as part of official duties and in accordance with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality,” the statement said.
Savvidou added that in order to ensure police used their weapons correctly they should be required to follow certain training that would create a culture of respect for citizens' rights and to enhance transparency and accountability.
The Friends of the Police association expressed their deepest sympathies towards the injured 34-year-old and hoped he would make a full recovery. In a statement the association also gave its full support towards the officer who was carrying out his duty and service for the benefit of society.
“We applaud the immediate appointment of an independent investigative committee and call on the public to trust and help the police,” the statement concluded.