A citizen of Syria, who committed a murder of two Russian women last year, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Cyprus. The Limassol Criminal Court made the decision on Monday.
"His actions were cruel, ruthless and premeditated," said the verdict, which was handed down on the 33-year-old convict. The man who confessed to the murder cited mockery of his religion, masculinity and sexual qualities as his motive for the double murder.
The 44-year-old murderer's brother, whom the court found guilty of illegal possession and transportation of a firearm and interfering with a police investigation, received nine months in prison.
On November 25, 2021, Cyprus police asked the public for help in locating two Russian women, 43-year-old Khaiat Alraeesi and 33-year-old Maria Gazibagandova, missing since November 17 of that year. On that day, the Russians disappeared from the apartment where they were staying as tourists, located in the seaside town of Larnaca.
According to Cyprus media reports, traces of blood were found in a house in the village of Moniatis in Limassol province, where a Syrian detainee was doing construction work. The women had been in the house for several days before they disappeared.
At first the suspect was confused, claiming to have taken the women back to Larnaca from the house under construction, where they had spent several days with him, but then was forced to confess to the murder and led investigators to the crime scene himself.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Racool_studio/Freepik
Based on materials from TASS