POLICE are due to charge a central prison warden and a convict in relation to the alleged rape of a 19-year-old prisoner in December, police spokesman Andreas Angelides said yesterday.

The police – based on instructions by the state’s legal services – are planning to charge the convict with rape and the warden with neglecting his official duty, Angelides said.

The imminent charges relate to rape allegations that came to the fore in March when the ombudswoman’s office was asked to investigate the allegation.

A 19-year-old doing time for burglaries claimed that he was raped when he was locked in his cell with a 50-year-old convicted sexual offender against normal procedure, which is to keep prisoners under the age of 21 in a separate wing.

Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou entered central prison in early March to investigate, taking statements from wardens and prisoners, even though deputy central prison governor Giorgos Tryfonides said that the rape allegation had already been investigated by prison authorities and nothing had come up.

A couple of days earlier, Tryfonides said he was terminating cooperation with Savvidou’s office because he took issue with a critical report on the central prison, which he said was drafted without considering the administration’s views.

Savvidou and her officers took statements from prisoners and officers in relation to the rape allegation talking of authorities’ “unjustifiable unacceptable negligence”.

The youth said in a written statement that before the 50-year-old joined him in his cell he had seen the man talking to the warden on duty.

Following Savvidou’s report in March, justice minister Loucas Louca ordered a criminal and disciplinary investigation and later in the same month the police handed their report to the Attorney–general, Petros Clerides who recently recommended the police proceed with criminal prosecution.

To date, no one has been disciplined in relation to the alleged incident.

The 19-year-old was released shortly afterwards, following a presidential pardon granted on Clerides’ recommendation.

Cyprus Mail