CYPRUS: Lawsuit to be filed over police bungling in serial killer case

Legal action will be taken against the Cyprus state over alleged police failings to conduct a proper investigation that could have prevented the gruesome murders of five women and two children by a confessed serial killer.

---

The husband and father to two of the victims of the confessed serial killer is preparing to sue the Cyprus Republic over failure of police officers to perform their duty when Romanian mother Livia-Florentina Bunea and her 8-year-old daughter Elena-Natalia were reported missing in 2016.

Three years later they were recovered from a toxic red lake where they were dumped in two suitcases.

The family’s lawyer Yiannis Ioannou, in comments to Politis radio, said that a lawsuit will also be filed against the 35-year-old confessed serial killer.

The aim of the legal action against the state is to identify to what extent the unprofessional behaviour of the Cypriot Police, played a role in the killings of Livia and Elena-Natalia and of the other women.

He noted that the ceiling for compensation in such cases exceeds one million euros.

He said that the lawsuits are based on specific evidence and testimonies.

Ioannou said his client’s instructions are to proceed immediately with filing the civil cases as there is concern that “evidence may disappear”.

"We have excellent police officers, but unfortunately we also have some rotten apples. That is why my client is concerned," said Ioannou.