Prison guards remanded again over inmate’s murder

Three prison guards on duty when Turkish Cypriot Tansu Cidan was allegedly murdered in his cell were remanded for another six days on Saturday.

The three were brought before the Nicosia district court to renew their detention order which expired on Saturday. They face charges of manslaughter and neglect of duty.

However, they did not admit the charges.

On November 11, the court remanded the three suspects for eight days following testimony that they failed to respond to the inmate’s call for help prior to his death on October 27.

An autopsy showed Cidan had been beaten to death.

For the case, 15 people, of whom the majority are inmates, have been arrested.

Cidan had been arrested in April for drugs possession with intent to supply. He was serving a long-term sentence for “multiple crimes”, reported to include eight years for possession of a significant quantity of drugs.