Two Polis Chrysochou police officers have been charged with torture in Paphos criminal court, and face up to 14 years in prison, after they were caught on camera mercilessly beating a 26-year-old convict in jail. There is earlier footage of two other police officers confronting the 26-year-old, who turned on them, attacking them, rolling around the floor, kicking, punching and striking at them with a penknife.

The problem of police brutality and the lack of security in police stations in Cyprus was highlighted with a leaked video showing a sickening attack with a truncheon against a Greek-Cypriot man in jail in February 2014. The officers have been suspended by the justice ministry and are being investigated for torture and abuse of power. The convict may also be facing new charges of attacking the police officers in an earlier incident on the same night.

Justice Minister Ioanas Nicolaou said it was a reprehensible and sad incident and that the two officers were under investigation pending disciplinary actions. In the days since the video was leaked - and one-and-a-half years after the actual incident - they have been charged for the beating of the convict, and will stand trial.

The victim of the beating said he was not allowed to speak to a lawyer and was not sent to hospital, and these claims are being investigated, said the minister.

Incidents like these shame us all, and offend the thousands of police officers who do their jobs daily, said Nicolaou.

There is no room in the police for officers like this and it is regrettable that there was a delay in investigating the incident, said the minister.

Human rights organisations like the UN Committee Against Torture have raised concerns over police brutality in Cyprus, particularly when it comes to detained migrants, many of whom are thrown in jail for misdemeanors simply because the system doesn’t know what else to do with them. Others are sent back to their country irrespective of whether they face torture in a war-torn region like Syria. The lack of compassion, special training and an organised process for handling migrants are the main problems.

In the brutality case the situation reflects the similar obvious problems of the lack of training, security within the police stations and processes for handling dangerous prisoners.

The sources of both the videos is anonymous, and in this day and age of Internet communications, any police officer or convict who thinks they can get away with beatings like this will have to think again. Widespread media coverage, not to mention coverage to thousands of people on social media, reveals the truth in the end.