Cyprus court releases 3 employees of firm owned by Israeli

A Cyprus court on Friday denied a police request to detain three people in order to assist its investigation into the business dealings of a high-tech surveillance equipment company owned by an Israeli former intelligence officer.

According to the state-run Cyprus News Agency, Larnaca Distict Court judge Dona Constantinou told a hearing that she saw no reason to justify ordering the three employees of the Cyprus-registered company WiSpear to be taken into custody.

The judge said it was unlikely the two men and one woman would now try to influence witnesses more than a month into the police investigation.

Police on Thursday arrested the three employees — a computer programmer, a warehouse worker and a secretary — saying they were under investigation for suspected breaches of private communication and personal data laws.

Authorities launched a probe...