Six people working at the Nicosia Central Prison have been suspended following the death of a Turkish Cypriot inmate last week, prison director Anna Aristotelous told CyBC on Monday.
Aristotelous met with Justice Minister Stephie Drakou on Monday morning to discuss the case. In statements to the media after the meeting, the prison director said that five wardens and a sergeant have been suspended to facilitate investigations.
41-year-old Tansu Cidan was found dead in his prison cell on Thursday evening, bearing multiple bruises and injuries to his body, indicating that he had been beaten to death.
Eight inmates have been arrested and remanded in custody in connection with the killing. Five of them are Turkish nationals, CyBC reported.
Footage from the prison’s surveillance system presented in court, showed the victim entering the cell of one of the suspects 36 hours before his death and exiting eight and a half hours while being carried and with a bedsheet covering his face and body.
Also, less than an hour before the killing on Thursday evening, three suspects are seen entering Cidan’s cell and exiting while holding a red shirt, which looks like they were hiding something inside.
Cidan, a Turkish Cypriot, was serving an eight-year sentence. He was arrested in April 2022 for possessing 650 grams of methamphetamine with intent to supply.
Read more:
Central Prison CCTV sheds light to inmate killing