NICOSIA: Cyprus’ attorney general on Sunday appointed an independent investigator to oversee a criminal probe into the death of a Pakistani man allegedly shot dead by police earlier this month.
Attorney General George L. Savvides said in a statement that the decision followed a briefing from the police chief regarding the ongoing investigation into the incident.
Savvides said he had appointed an “independent criminal investigator into the circumstances surrounding the death of a young Pakistani man.”
“The Chief Adviser of the Republic, Mr. Ninos Kekkos, will direct the investigations carried out by the police.”
The move comes a day after authorities said the Pakistani national was fatally shot by a police weapon.
This announcement followed a post-mortem examination which contradicted an initial forensic analysis excluding criminal circumstances.
According to the autopsy, a gunshot wound was found on the right side of the man’s back.
Police found the body of the 24-year-old in a field on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia on January 6, a national holiday.
Days later, police revealed an earlier incident in which officers fired shots while trying to intercept and arrest suspects, saying the deaths may be related.
Local news site Phileleftheros reported Sunday that three police officers were being questioned over the shooting, which occurred in a different location than where the body was found.
Phileleftheros reported that police said shots were fired at the tires of a vehicle suspected of being involved in migrant smuggling near the line that divides the island between the UN and the north supported by Turkey.
Irregular migrants frequently cross the so-called Green Line from northern Turkish Cypriot to the wealthier Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus.
Phileleftheros said the Health Ministry had requested a police report on the incident so it could examine the forensic expert’s findings.
