Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-04-23

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

April 23 , 2000

CONTENTS

[01] Police say two have confessed to killing tourist

[02] Matsakis makes a name for himself down under

[03] French experts recommend facelift for shopping area

[04] Heroin suspect remanded after police sting

[05] From bus to bike: it's green and it's clean

[06] Cyprus 'committed to improving the environment'

[07] Miss Universe: if the shoe fits...

[01] Police say two have confessed to killing tourist

TWO MEN have been arrested and have reportedly confessed to the murder of British tourist Graham Mills in Limassol, police told The Sunday Mailyesterday.

An 18-year-old identified as C.

M.

C, was one of two suspects for Wednesday=s killing of the 41-year-old whose body was found near the old Limassol port on Thursday morning with severe head injuries.

The suspect was arrested at 12.20pm on the Limassol-Paphos highway under Ayios Sylas bridge, after a chase by police. He was taken to the Limassol police station where he reportedly confessed to killing Mills after questioning. The suspect was jobless, police said, and lived in Ayios Spyridonas, Limassol.

The suspect told the police he had committed the murder with another 18- year-old from Limassol whom he named, the CID said.

Police then arrested another man identified as A.

K.

P, also from Ayios Spyridonas, at 1.35pm, and said he too confessed to the murder. The second suspect was also jobless, police said.

Meanwhile, the victim's sister and brother-in-law, Karen and Nigel Butler, who arrived in Cyprus on Friday, identified the body yesterday.

Police said that Mills had been murdered because of what they called personal differences. They ruled out theft as a motive because Mills was found with his wallet on him. The victim was reported as having been seen arguing with two men outside a bar in Limassol on Wednesday night and that he followed the two men.

"We will get to the bottom of this case because incidents of this sort give a bad picture of Cyprus to the outside world," a police spokesman told The Sunday Mail.

"Our tourism will suffer severely if these kinds of crime are committed," he added.

Graham Mills was an accountant from Tring in Hertfordshire who arrived on the island a week ago. Pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous, who conducted the autopsy, said that he had died from multiple blows with a blunt instrument, possibly a metal crowbar. The murder weapon has not yet been found.

April 23 , 2000

[02] Matsakis makes a name for himself down under

FORMER state pathologist and Diko deputy Marios Matsakis is earning a worldwide reputation which has him travelling far and wide to conduct post mortems.

Matsakis has just returned from Australia where he conducted an exhumation and post mortem on a 15-year-old Australian boy whose family believed he need not have died.

The Cypriot pathologist's findings appear to back up the opinion of the boy's parents and could lead to a major court case in Australia.

Matsakis told The Sunday Mailthe teenager had gone on a hiking trip organised by his college in a valley around 100 miles outside of Sydney where he got lost and subsequently fell into a creek.

The boy's body was not discovered until the next day and a post mortem concluded that he drowned.

But Matsakis said the family was not satisfied and accused the police and the school of negligence by delaying the search for their son. "The believed, number one, that the hike should never have gone ahead because of the conditions, and number two, that the rescue did not take place until the next day," Matsakis said.

The family decided to consult the Cypriot forensic pathologist after hearing about him through another case he conducted in Australia.

"I gave my opinion based on the findings of the first post mortem and as a result a request was made at the inquest for a second post mortem," Matsakis said.

He said the coroner adjourned the inquest and gave him the authority to perform the second autopsy which he carried out on Wednesday.

Matsakis said his findings were that the boy died mainly due to hypothermia and then drowned, a discovery he said raises a lot of issues. He will submit his final report to the inquest which is due to resume on August 28.

In addition to the current case Matsakis said the inquest in his first Australian case resumes next month. He is also involved in two murder cases in Israel.

Matsakis is often called on by Cypriot families to attend post mortems being carried out by state pathologists.

April 23 , 2000

[03] French experts recommend facelift for shopping area

TWO OF Nicosia's most popular shopping streets, Ledra and Onasagorou, will undergo a major facelift if French experts enlisted to investigate the issue have their way.

Nicosia Municipality, under mayor Lellos Demetriades, has in recent years shown great interest in restoring the old town, where the streets are situated.

For the past decade they have been closed off to all vehicles except delivery vans on certain days.

Announcing some of their suggestions yesterday, French experts Alain Lorgeoux and Louis Josse said that Nicosia and Rennes, the capital of the province of Brittany, had much in common.

Lorgeoux is Rennes' construction director and Josse a top French architect.

Using illustrations of Rennes and other European cities with pedestrian-only shopping streets such as those leading to La Grande Place in Brussels, the two experts highlighted the possibilities for Nicosia.

What was especially vital, Lorgeoux and Josse said, was for proper parking facilities in the city centre with clear signposting to their location and how many empty spaces remain.

More consumer-friendly spots should also be set up, the men said, such as cafés along the Green Line.

The experts also suggested that shops along the two streets of Ledra and Onasagorou in particular and in the old town in general undergo moderations to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Lorgeoux and Josse were commissioned by the Nicosia Municipality and Technical Chamber (Etek), and are currently on their third visit to Cyprus.

They first came to view the area and meet the parties involved such as the municipality, Etek and shopkeepers, and their second visit saw them hearing suggestions by the parties.

They will visit Cyprus at least once more in order to give their final report and supervise the beginning of any work that may be done.

April 23 , 2000

[04] Heroin suspect remanded after police sting

The man's 15-year-old daughter, meanwhile, has been put in the care of the Welfare Services. Both were in Cyprus illegally.

Limassol District Court yesterday heard that the 44-year-old suspect had been under police surveillance for some time following a tip-off.

Posing as a buyer, an undercover police officer met the suspect on Friday afternoon on the pretence of buying drugs.

Once the transaction was under way, police who had been in hiding in the area pounced, finding 104 grams of heroin on him.

The suspect yesterday told the court that he had the drugs in his possession but that he was not a drug dealer. He said the heroin had been given to him by another Iranian who had already left Cyprus.

April 23 , 2000

[05] From bus to bike: it's green and it's clean

A service will provide bus travellers with bicycles from Solomou Square, which they will be able to borrow just by showing their bus ticket.

The Ecological Movement and the Nicosia City Bus Company who are organising the event to take place from today until May 7, are urging people to use bicycles for their Easter shopping or for just getting around the city without harming the environment.

No need to stress out in the traffic jam, or look for a parking place in vain, say the greens.

The campaign was launched yesterday by Nicosia mayor Lellos Demetriades and town-planning and Nicosia Bus Company representatives. The first group of cyclists -- including the mayor -- then went for a ride around town, a 'spokes'man said.

April 23 , 2000

[06] Cyprus 'committed to improving the environment'

The first Earth Day took place in the US in 1970, with the aim of motivating people to take action to prevent damage to the environment. It is now celebrated all over the world.

The European Union's laws on environmental protection cover a wide range of issues and provide specific details on how each member country should behave. Themistocleous said Cyprus has committed itself to falling in line with EU requirements by January 1, 2003.

He said that 2000 signalled the start of an intensive three-year programme to cover the majority of Cyprus' EU obligations.

He also said that £600 million would be spent on environmental aid projects over the next decade, "not just as part of our obligation to the EU but as an unavoidable debt to society".

April 23 , 2000

[07] Miss Universe: if the shoe fits...

YESTERDAY MORNING the 79 Miss Universe delegates were dressing up and strutting up in Nicosia as they were fitted for their official pageant outfits, before the Welcome Dinner in Paphos tonight.

The girls had to choose the colour of their official swimsuits and &gt;fun swimsuits=, the style of their white Angelo John dresses for tonight's dinner, and the colour of their Calvari dresses for the Millennium Presentation Show in the Eleftheria Stadium on May 7.

The girls were also supplied with shoes -- white and strappy, no doubt chosen to show their legs to the best advantage.

They paraded up and down in front of Garland, the wardrobe supervisor, while hovering seamstresses pinned and tucked them.

They then went through to hair and make up, before being photographed by the official Miss Universe photographer -- photographs that will be given to VIP guests throughout the pageant.

It was the girls' first, albeit unofficial, meeting with the press and they clearly enjoyed the attention.

Excitement was running high but there were also nerves about the challenge ahead and some were still jet lagged after arduous journeys.

Miss Panama, Analia Nunez, 20, left Panama City at 10.30am on Thursday and arrived in Larnaca, via Houston, New York and Amsterdam, at 6.50pm on Friday. But she is delighted to be here. Since winning Miss Panama in September she has been frantically learning English, cramming etiquette and perfecting her diction -- all while still a university student of marketing and advertising.

Miss Yugoslavia, Lana Maric, 18 is also a student. When asked how people perceived her at home, she said: "I'm more famous than the president."

Lana has won a scholarship to study architecture in New York, but if she wins Miss Universe she wants to dedicate her time to helping homeless children and dogs.

The pageant will give her an opportunity to meet Miss Croatia, Renata Lovrincevic, for the first time.

A Serb from Belgrade who had lived in Croatia as a child, Lana condemned the Balkans War and the Nato bombing. "But you know, I love everyone, we're all humans and people."

Her sentiments run contrary to the controversy that has clouded Miss Turkey's non-participation in the pageant, however.

Reports in the Greek press claim that the Turkish delegate, Cansu Dere, was forbidden by the Turkish government to travel to Cyprus unless she could pass through the occupied areas, which is strictly forbidden for any visitor to the Republic of Cyprus.

The competition committee in Turkey made arrangements for her to travel through Athens, but the day before her departure the government refused to let her go, "for political reasons".

A Miss Universe spokesman said Miss Turkey would not be attending "because she was unwell".

Machi newspaper commented that the "virus of the Cyprus problem has affected Miss Turkey".

This is the second problem for the Turkey delegation. Their first candidate, Dogoum Vegeri, was disqualified for being underage -- all Miss Universe entrants must be over 18.

SEE ALSO PAGE 14

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 2000

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