British tourist suffers PTSD after ‘racist police beat him up during holiday in Ayia Napa’
- Jonathan Kan says he was attacked and verbally abused by Cypriot police
- Kan, originally from Hong Kong, claims he was attacked due to his ethnicity
- He claims police drove him to the ‘middle of nowhere’ and beat him up in 2021
- They then put him into a jail cell and stopped him from calling his lawyer, he says
- He was able to leave the country, but says he was left with PTSD and thousands of pounds worth of debt due legal fees and being unable to work
A British tourist has been left suffering from PTSD after ‘racist’ police beat him up while he was on holiday in Ayia Napa, he has alleged.
Jonathan Kan said he was attacked and verbally abused by Cypriot police due to his ethnicity – with the ordeal also leaving him £7,000 in debt.
Mr Kan, who is originally from Hong Kong, has been living in London since 2012 and went on holiday to Ayia Napa with friends in September last year.
Jonathan Kan said he was attacked and verbally abused by Cypriot police in September 2021 due to his ethnicity – with the ordeal leaving him with PTSD and £7,000 in debt. Pictured: Mr Kan holds up his arm showing injuries to his arm and wrist
On just the second night of the trip, Mr Kan, 34, said he was targeted by local police in the Mediterranean resort town due to his ethnicity.
After being ‘driven out into the middle of nowhere’ and ‘beaten up by local police’, Mr Kan said he was eventually thrown into a jail cell covered in ‘pee and rubbish’.
He said the police threatened to kill him, gave him no water, no medication, cut him off from the outside world, and did not allow him to contact his lawyer.
Mr Kan, who lives in Croydon, said: ‘They were making fun of my clothes, they asked where I was from. I said London but then they asked: ‘Where are you really from? You don’t look British.’
‘I told them: ‘I was born in Hong Kong’ so they said: ‘So you’re Chinese, so you brought Covid into this country?’ According to Mr Kan, the abuse escalated very quickly after he questioned what they were saying.
Mr Kan said: ‘I was arrested and I got tied up with a nylon cable and drove into the middle of nowhere. They were holding my arm really tightly, it was so painful… they weren’t using handcuffs, just plastic strips.
‘When I told them EU regulations, they beat me harder… I didn’t know where they were driving me – I was shouting and asking: ‘Why, why? This is an abuse of power.’
Pictured: Jonathan Kan shows bruising he sustained in the alleged attack. On just the second night of the trip, Mr Kan, 34, said he was targeted by local police due to his ethnicity
Mr Kan said he spent around eight hours in the cell and during that time, he had no contact with anyone outside of the jail.
He said he was then driven to a nearby hospital and made to take a Covid test, despite being double vaccinated and there being no legal requirement to take one.
He also claims the police took him to a court house where the police forced him into making a confession without any legal representation, and made him pay a fine.
Mr Kan, who believes the officers’ motives were racist, said: ‘They said I was posing a threat to the public by assaulting police, not wearing a mask in public, drinking in public – everyone is drinking in public, it’s Ayia Napa.’
Eventually, Mr Kan, said he was able to get in touch with the British Embassy, who ensured that he left the country safely. He said he was advised to start a legal case against the police with a local lawyer, which cost him £3,000.
Mr Kan, who is originally from Hong Kong, has been living in London since 2012 and went on holiday to Ayia Napa with friends in September last year
He was told he would be reimbursed for these charges, though the lawyer allegedly stopped helping him when Mr Kan refused to pay more money.
Mr Kan, a data privacy analyst, initially found hope in the thought of justice being served, but he has still struggled with severe mental health problems following the incident.
He has been to therapy after being diagnosed with PTSD, something which had initially stopped him from working. As a result, he is in £7,000 worth of debt, both for legal fees and living costs for not being able to work.
Mr Kan, who has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the legal fees, said: ‘It’s not right what they’ve done. They’ve just got completely got away it. I just don’t feel like myself anymore.’
On the page, he wrote that he had contacted Justice Abroad – an organisation that helps tourists who get into legal trouble while abroad. However, he said he was unable to pay for the legal fees involved.
A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We provided assistance to a British man who was arrested in Cyprus’.
Cyprus Police did not respond to a request for comment. MailOnline has contacted Justice Abroad for comment.
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