All ten people who were arrested on Sunday after being involved in a scuffle with police during a protest in Limassol were released on Monday.
The ten, six men and four women, were all brought before the Limassol district court on Monday, with police requesting that they all be remanded in custody.
However, the court refused to acquiesce to the police’s request, saying such a move would “not be necessary”, despite there being a “reasonable suspicion” that they committed the offences of which they are accused.
One police officer was injured in the protest, sustaining injuries to his pelvis and knee. He was taken to the Limassol general hospital, before being released.
The police accuse the ten of conspiring to commit a misdemeanour, disorderly conduct, publicly making insults, breaching the peace, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.
The ten had been protesting over the death of 24-year-old Bangladeshi national Anisur Rahman.
Rahman died on April 10 after the fifth-floor apartment in which he lived alongside 10 others was raided by police looking for illegal immigrants. When the police entered the apartment, he jumped from the apartment’s balcony, falling seven and a half metres to his death.
The protesters claim the police are responsible for Rahman’s death, with one protester shouting that they wanted answers over the “murder of Rahman”.
Earlier, non-governmental organisation Kisa had filed a complaint regarding Rahman’s death to the independent authority handling complaints against police officers.
They challenged the police’s version of events that two officers entered the apartment with the consent of its inhabitants.
Kisa chairman Doros Polykarpou said they had testimony claiming the door was broken down and five or six police officers barged in, handcuffing people as they woke from the fracas.
Police spokesman Christos Andreou had earlier likened the rules for a raid to that of a census check when pressed to clarify whether the police require warrant to enter a property for such cases.
He said police therefore do not require a warrant to enter residential properties for this purpose.
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