It’s been a bad week for NGOs in Cyprus, with news of women’s support centre Apanemi’s prosecution coming on the heels of last Sunday’s arrest of the Doros Polycarpou, the head of Action for Equality Support and Antiracism in Cyprus (KISA). Polycarpou was arrested for playing music without a licence at a protest outside the Interior Ministry by the families of asylum seekers indefinitely detained by the state. Plainclothes police officers were also accused of beating protesters as the demo degenerated into scuffles. So what is the state’s attitude to NGOs? According to KISA, the picture is bleak and the help offered by the state minimal.
