Limassol delivery rider reports assault and robbery

Limassol, Cyprus. A food delivery rider aged 31 who is based in Limassol reported an assault and robbery, police said on Saturday. The alleged attack on Friday follows repeated similar incidents in Limassol, Cyprus’ second-largest city, and other parts of the island.

Rider describes theft and assault

Police said the rider reported that two people on a motorcycle approached him at about 10.15pm on Friday and took his mobile phone from its mount on his bicycle’s handlebars.

According to his account, he followed the pair, but the motorcycle passenger kicked him as he tried to approach them, knocking him to the ground. He said a third man arrived on a separate motorcycle while he was down and took cash from him, after which all three fled.

Police said their investigation remains under way.

Minister proposes emergency alert for riders

Earlier this month, Justice Minister Costas Fitiris proposed equipping each food delivery rider with a button that would immediately alert police if members of the public attacked them.

Fitiris also rejected racism as the motive for the frequent assaults, saying: “we found that there are also independent distributors who have a lot of money on them, and most of the time, I estimate that the motives are robbery and not racism”.

Commissioner seeks review of police measures

Human rights commissioner Maria Stylianou Lottides said she had written to police chief Themistos Arnaoutis about the latest series of attacks, calling for a comprehensive investigation.

While acknowledging measures already introduced by police, she said “the repetition of the attacks makes it necessary to systematically evaluate their effectiveness”.