Detention upheld until January 2026
The Paralimni rape appeal filed by a man accused of prolonged domestic and sexual abuse against his wife has been unanimously rejected by the Court of Appeal, which upheld his continued pre-trial detention until 22 January 2026.
The ruling confirms an earlier decision of the Permanent Criminal Court of Famagusta, where the accused is facing trial for an exceptionally serious case involving domestic violence and sexual offences.
Seventeen rape charges among heavy indictment
The appellant faces a wide-ranging and severe indictment that includes, among others, seventeen counts of rape of a spouse by a spouse, offences of violence by a family member against another family member, common assault, abduction, sexual harassment, causing incapacity to resist with intent to commit a felony, and conduct causing severe psychological harm and harassment.
All offences allegedly occurred against his wife, identified as AJS, in Paralimni, between 1 March and 21 June 2021, under both the Criminal Code and special legislation on domestic violence and violence against women.
Grounds for continued custody
The accused was initially remanded in custody on 25 April 2025, with the Criminal Court finding two distinct and serious grounds justifying detention: the risk of non-appearance at trial and the risk of reoffending. That assessment was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in June 2025, rendering the legal basis for detention final.
On 22 December 2025, the defence submitted a fresh application for conditional release, arguing that “new evidence” had emerged capable of overturning the earlier assessment.
Defence claims dismissed
The defence relied on documents from the Crown Prosecution Service, claiming that material forwarded to Cypriot authorities had been classified in the UK as “unused material” and therefore weakened the reasonable suspicion of conviction.
The trial court rejected these arguments, ruling that no genuinely new evidence had been presented that would materially alter the circumstances underpinning the original detention order. Citing established Supreme Court jurisprudence and recent appellate rulings, it ordered the continuation of custody, taking into account the overall duration of detention up to the rescheduled trial date.
Appeal court reasoning
The decision was challenged on four grounds, including allegations that the trial court failed to conduct an effective review of the lawfulness of detention, in breach of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that it wrongly dismissed the existence of new evidence.
The Court of Appeal recalled that its review in such cases is limited to assessing whether the lower court properly exercised its discretion, intervening only in exceptional circumstances. Central to its ruling was the continued existence of the risk of reoffending, which it described as an autonomous and sufficient ground for deprivation of liberty and one already conclusively upheld in June 2025.
Given that risk, the court held that arguments relating solely to the risk of absconding could not alter the outcome. It further noted that the CPS documents concerned a different and unrelated offence of a later date and bore no relevance to the charges before the Criminal Court of Famagusta.
Appeal unanimously rejected
On that basis, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in its entirety and confirmed the continuation of the accused’s detention until 22 January 2026, when he will next appear before the Permanent Criminal Court of Famagusta for the continuation of the criminal proceedings.
Also read: Limassol child abuse sentence appeal rejected by court
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