Police receive 16 sexual offences complaints, seven already in court

Police said they have received 16 complaints relating to potential sexual offences with about half already filed in court.

Three of the 16 were lodged in the past 10 days alone, a police spokesperson told the Cyprus News Agency.

Seven cases have been filed in court and one was being processed by the Legal Service.

The remaining eight were under investigation, some nearing the end.

There has been a flurry of complaints of late, including against a former senior clergyman, a politician, a trainer, and a senior sports official.

It started after Greek athlete Sophia Bekatorou spoke out publicly about her rape by a senior member of the Hellenic sailing federation back in 1998.

Bekatorou paved the way for people who were sexually abused to break their silence, with a domino of harassment reports in Greece and in Cyprus.

The first one who spoke out in Cyprus was shooter Andri Eleftheriou who had previously revealed on TV she was sexually abused back in 2018 and again last December but she had not named her alleged abuser.

Following the Bekatorou disclosure, Eleftheriou filed a formal complaint against a former member of the Cyprus Olympic committee.