Paralimni, Cyprus. The court of appeal on Monday overturned a district court decision to release three defendants on bail after they were charged with child abuse offences. The three men face a total of 122 charges linked to alleged violence and abuse against children in the same family between 2013 and last month.
Charges and allegations
The defendants, a father and his two sons, are accused of actual bodily harm, attempted sexual abuse, issuing threats, psychological harm, and other offences the court described as serious.
In its ruling, the court of appeal referred to deplorable living conditions allegedly endured by the victims, including attacks, beatings, lack of food at home, confinement, and a prohibition on leaving the house.
Appeal court ruling
The legal service appealed the Paralimni court’s decision to grant bail, and the court of appeal ruled in its favour. It said the lower court had incorrectly assessed the risk of absconding by the three defendants.
“The evidence presented to the trial did not indicate circumstances of ties to [Cyprus] capable of outweighing the seriousness of the offence, the possibility of conviction, and the potential sentence,” the court said.
Concerns over witnesses and reoffending
The court also said the release of the defendants could create a risk of interference with witnesses, noting that one complainant had already reported being contacted by a defendant.
It added that the risk of reoffending was visible and said the fact that all three defendants had clean criminal records before their arrests was not, by itself, sufficient to outweigh that possibility.
Trial date
The trial of the three defendants is scheduled to begin on July 16.