Fatal incidents in National Guard going to court

Two cases of deaths of national guard soldiers in the line of duty have been referred to the courts.

The cases involve the deaths of Captain Xanthos Kyriacou, who was killed before the start of an exercise in the Troodos mountains in May 2021, and Nataly Neophytou, who was a contract soldier run over by an army jeep during driver training in May 2022 in Kornos.

Two people have been indicted regarding the cases, and summoned to appear in court, both accused of causing death by negligence.

In addition, the case of the death of contracted commando Panagiotis Gianniou, who was killed after jumping from “a great height” from a helicopter into the sea in the Lara bay area in June last year is already before the courts, with a National guard officer standing accused.

All three cases were ordered by the police and the national guard, with the relevant files handed over to the legal service.

The legal service took the decision that proceedings should be initiated against “those who did not take all the necessary measures to prevent the accidents from happening”.