Five people were on Tuesday found guilty for the death of Turkish Cypriot Tansu Cidan, who died in the central prison in 2022.

The five included two of his fellow inmates and three prison guards, with fellow inmate Veyzi Bandur being found “guilty of beyond a reasonable doubt” of premeditated murder after testimonies showed that he had “repeatedly and for a long time” beaten Cidan on the day before he was murdered and on the day of the murder.

He and another fellow inmate, Mohammadian Reza, were also found guilty of the possession and supply of illegal drugs.

Two of the three prison guards, Giorgos Kyriakides and Savvas Christou, were found guilty of manslaughter, with the court finding that they caused Cidan’s death “through unlawful omission”.

The court found that they had “failed to conduct adequate inspections, provide safeguarding, take protective measures, provide medical care, or prevent danger to [Cidan’s] life”.

Kyriakides, Christou and fellow prison guard Stelios Georgiou were all found guilty of causing death through a reckless and thoughtless act, due to their failure to take protective measures. All three were also found guilty of a neglect of duty.

Two other defendants, Kaya Derga and Abdulkarim Abdulkarim, had already pleaded guilty to previous charges and were on Tuesday acting as prosecution witnesses.

In its verdict, the court emphasised the gravity of Bandurs violence towards the victim, describing that whilst beating the deceased, he paused several times without his rage calming down but rather continuing with increased brutality after the breaks.

The court also stressed that Bandur had done “everything possible” to prevent prison guards Kyriakides and Christou from helping the victim and had threatened the victim on the day of his murder, saying he [the victim] could “see what else I will do to you”.

Bandur’s lawyer, Katia Pieroudi, called to comment on the decision, said that the court’s decision would be fully respected and that the verdict was to be evaluated for the purposes of possible legal remedies.

Referring to prison guards Kyriakides and Christou, the court cited “grave negligence”, saying that they failed to carry out a proper check or count the day before the murder, on October 26.

Despite being concerned about the victim’s health, as reported in witness statements, the court said that prison guard Christou, by not ordering Cidan’s transfer for medical treatment, had consciously put the victim at risk.

“The failure to remove the victim from the cell constitutes a substantial cause of death”, the court wrote in its ruling, adding that actions [or lack of] on behalf of the two guards had “predetermined the victims fate.”

Additionally, the court said that prisoners had been moving around without restriction, stressing that by rule, the warden needed to be informed of their movements and that prisoners must move without supervision.

The verdict read that when Bandur was beating the victim, the alarm system for the prison guards had turned on twice but had been deactivated and that it remained unclear by whom, with Georgiou, the third guard, failing to fulfil his obligations as a supervisor by not responding accordingly as would have been his duty.

While all three guards were found guilty, the court said it had also taken into account the overcrowding and understaffing of central prisons at the time of Cidan’s murder when delivering its ruling.

Following a relevant recommendation from the prosecution, the five defendants were ordered to remain in custody until the next hearing on August 13.