Two women arrested over a TikTok livestream in which a child with Down syndrome was allegedly encouraged to perform indecent acts were released by the Nicosia district court on Thursday after it rejected a police request to remand them in custody, despite a third suspect being arrested in the same investigation later the same day.
The decision came after police sought detention orders for the two women, who had been arrested under court warrants following a cybercrime investigation into the livestream.
Police confirmed that the court refused their request but offered no explanation to the Cyprus Mail as to why the detention application had failed.
The justice ministry further declined to comment, saying the matter fell solely within the police’s remit.
In a statement issued later on Thursday, police announced the arrest of a third suspect under a separate court warrant as investigations continued.
The ruling has raised questions after police had previously argued the seriousness of the allegations justified the women’s detention.
It also follows criticism over the handling of the investigation after it emerged that an initial complaint had been submitted on June 1 but the inquiry was discontinued due police insisting that they were unable to identify those involved.
That position was later lambasted by disability organisations, which argued members of the public had identified those appearing in the video within a matter of hours after it resurfaced online.
A criminal lawyer, speaking to the Cyprus Mail, said the court has broad discretion when deciding whether to grant a remand order and is required to consider whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a suspect could tamper with evidence, commit further offences or abscond through the north.
He said the circumstances surrounding the case nevertheless “appeared unusual”, particularly given police’s earlier position that they had been unable to identify the suspects after the original complaint was made.
The case centres on a TikTok livestream in which the child was allegedly encouraged to expose himself while being mocked during the broadcast.
The footage prompted widespread condemnation, with the union for the disabled (Kysoa) stating the incident was clearly abusive and urging the public to stop sharing the video.
Its president, Themis Anthopoulou, said earlier on Thursday that “circulating a video is equivalent to the abuse recorded in the video” and questioned why police had failed to identify those involved for almost two months when, she said, “an ordinary member of the public” had done so within an hour.
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