Police are re-examining fatal road death in 2012

After a barrage of allegations pointing to a coverup, Justice Minister Anna Procopiou on Monday announced a new team of police investigators are re-examining a 2012 road death.

Over 10 years since the death of 17-year-old Andreas Loizou in Limassol, no one to date has been brought to justice. The issue has turned into a highly contentious debate, particularly on social media, where pundits have openly accused a daughter of a well-known political person as being a contributing factor to his death, and police knowingly turning a blind eye.

“We saw a lot of criticism on social media, but police had already proceeded with arrests and had investigated the case,” Procopiou told journalists after the House human rights committee that she was invited to.

She explained the lawyer appointed by Loizou’s family has requested the road death be re-examined, but under the eyes of a different team than the original one.

Procopiou confirmed this began two weeks ago, stressing her ministry was giving the case the necessary attention.

Asked how badly the police’s reputation has been impacted after a number of cases that have been brought to public, the minister said in her past three months in the post, she has observed that police respond immediately to any issues, citing as examples Green MP Alexandra Attalides’ report over her parliamentary colleague Andreas Themistocleous, the attack on a Turkish Cypriot woman in Ayia Napa and the beating of a delivery driver in Limassol.

Asked to comment over reports of corruption the minister retorted that corruption is everywhere and that is why there is an independent authority to examine them.

Loizou died as a result of an accident on September 2, 2012 on the Moutayiaka bridge in Limassol. A female driver – allegedly the daughter of a well-known political person – was driving in the early hours of the morning and tried to overtake two motorbikes by going into the opposite lane.

The 21-year-old driver in the opposite lane swerved to avoid her but ended up hitting 17-year-old Loizou, who was on one of the motorbikes and subsequently died. Police issued a statement the same day seeking information about the incident.

It said the driver which had pulled into the opposite lane – believed to have been the cause of the accident – was driving a light-coloured A3 or A4 Audi convertible. A subsequent statement said the car could have been another make.

Members of the public realised the statement had disappeared from the police website – which the force attributed to a website upgrade, denying any sinister motive.

There were questions over why police had struggled to locate a convertible Audi in Limassol, suggesting there can’t have been that many.

Police refuted the accusation saying it had taken all steps necessary to track down the vehicle.

Former Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis also commented on the matter after there were allegations she was involved or aware of the issue at the time. Some posts even suggested she had received her ministerial post as a thank you for her silence.

At the time, she charged this was a very heavy accusation, denying any relation to the matter. “I call on all of those who published or republished the matter to document their sources or apologise.” She also called on the police to take a stance a matter.