Mamalikopoulos sentenced to 40 years jail

Dimitris Mamalikopoulos was sentenced to another 40 years in prison on Wednesday after he was found guilty of a further 24 charges – on top of previous murder related convictions.

The Famagusta-Larnaca criminal court found Mamalikopoulos, who was serving a life sentence, guilty on July 19, on charges that included conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, possession and transport of firearms and explosives as well as possession and supply of drugs to other persons.

These was one of the longest prison sentences imposed by the Cyprus courts for crimes of this type. A plea by Mamalikopoulos’ lawyer for the latest sentence to run concurrently with that of the five life sentences he was serving, was denied by the court.

During its sentencing, the court emphasised that there was no sign whatsoever of remorse on behalf of Mamalikopoulos.

He was found to be the moral instigator – despite being behind bars – in the attempted murder of four people in Ayia Napa, including businessman Costas Kritikos on February 16, 2020 and of another person, Costas Charalambous in Larnaca, on November 27, 2019.

For the 2020 murder attempts Mamalikopoulos was sentenced to 17 years in prison and for the 2019 attempt he was given 23 years.

The 39-year-old was found guilty of co-ordinating the attacks from prison, where he is serving five life sentences for the murder of four people on June 23, 2012, in Ayia Napa. They were shot in an attempt to murder businessman Phanos Kalopsidiotis.

Despite his long charge sheet, outside the court Mamalikopoulos handed out written statements declaring his innocence.

While serving his prison sentence, the court found he used a mobile phone to communicate with a person, who had the intention of committing murders.

With regard to the attempted murder at the Ayia Napa café in which four people were injured, the court decision said that, the hitman, during the committing of the crime, was receiving instructions from the defendant, via mobile phone.

Despite the hitman having informed Mamalikopoulos that their target was not present, the defendant ordered him to shoot anyway, disregarding the threat to the lives of people that were there. That nobody was killed by the shots fired by the hitman on the orders of Mamalikopoulos, was a big relief the court said.

Meanwhile, Mamalikopoulos made allegations of police corruption and criticised the media for repeating what the police said. They should talk about the true murderers and the real drug importers, he said.

The latest twist in the Mamalikopoulos case saw him directly refer to the prison scandal – in which the prisons director Anna Aristotelous said that a senior police officer was cooperating with a convict, in an attempt to get her removed from the post.

A few hours after the sentencing, the Attorney-general’s office announced there would be an investigation at Nicosia Central Prison, prompted by the information about the use of mobile phones and drugs by prisoners.