Up to 70 people may be wrongly listed as 1974 POWs, association says

Local 1974audit officeCyprus problemTop News Up to 70 people may be wrongly listed as 1974 POWs, association says Up To 70 People May Be Wrongly Listed As 1974 Pows, Association Says Relevant News Up to 70 people may be wrongly listed as 1974 POWs, association says 3 September 2026 This is what the new Limassol Zoo proposal includes 3 September 2026 Cyprus 2013 haircut victims now owe state legal costs 3 September 2026 Vassos Vassiliou 3 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Cyprus authorities are examining allegations that dozens of people may have been wrongly added to the official list of 1974 war prisoners and then claimed a 1,000-euro biannual benefit on that basis. Vasos Christou, president of the Pancyprian Association of 1974 War Prisoners, told Phileleftheros that according to information he received from a former Commissioner of the Presidency, around 60 to 70 people had improperly entered the prisoners list. Christou said the association was not claiming all of these individuals were unlawfully included, but was calling for checks to determine whether each case involved a genuine former prisoner. Christou said seven association members who are on the prisoners list had contacted him to complain that their benefit had been cut off. He said there was confusion over who qualifies as a prisoner, since alongside the official Red Cross list, separate lists are also kept by the National Guard and the Interior Ministry, making it difficult to establish a clear picture. Christou said the only list that should apply is the Red Cross one, since every prisoner was registered on it at the moment of release by Turkish forces. He noted that legislation at one point introduced a provision recognising as a prisoner anyone included on either the Red Cross list or the National Guard list. However, Christou said he had told Parliament that some people had allegedly obtained National Guard certification “through the back door,” with claims that some had approached National Guard officers after the fact who then certified, by signature, that specific individuals had been prisoners, a certification the Defence Ministry accepted. The Defence Ministry has said it cross-checked these applicants’ names against the Red Cross list, a claim the association disputes. Christou said the Audit Office had been asked to review the various missing persons lists, held by the Red Cross, the Defence Ministry and the Interior Ministry, to determine who genuinely held prisoner status and finalise the list. The Auditor General will compare names on the different ministries’ lists against the list of benefit recipients. The association sought legal assistance, and a lawyer wrote to the Police Chief requesting his intervention. Christou said the Police Chief responded that, once the Auditor General’s findings are in, statements would be taken from those not included in the official registers, and that criminal offences could not be ruled out, not only for people who may have been wrongly included in the prisoner lists but also for anyone who signed the certifications concerned. Christou also said it was possible that those who allegedly entered the lists through false claims could, beyond any criminal charges they may face, be asked to repay benefits received over the past two years. On the specific complaints from the seven affected prisoners of war whose benefit was cut, Christou said one lives in Crete, another in Britain, and a third is in a care home in Kyperounta. He said he had contacted the relevant officials, who told him that because personal data issues were involved, those affected would need to either call or attend in person for information. Christou said he wondered how they were meant to get through, even by phone, when his own calls to the officials had gone unanswered. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News This is what the new Limassol Zoo proposal includes Cyprus 2013 haircut victims now owe state legal costs Education ministry support staff march on Presidential Palace today over rights Trump suggests renaming Strait of Hormuz after himself amid Iran war Cyprus caught between US multinationals and Brussels over minimum tax law Door-to-door mosquito checks expand as West Nile virus cases climb Traffic collision closes lane on Nicosia-Limassol highway near Agios Tychonas Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.