The five Greek Cypriots who were arrested in the north last month were on Thursday taken back to the crossing point through which they entered the north on the day of their arrest.
The move had been requested by the prosecution on Wednesday, with lawyers having said then that every person involved in the case, including judges, lawyers, and defendants, should visit the crossing point and “conduct a site inspection to see whether the inside of the vehicle could be seen or not” by a police officer working at a crossing point booth.
This is because at last week’s hearing, it was stated by police officer Timucin Apaydin that it would have been impossible for the police on duty to discern how many people were in the Greek Cypriots’ car because of the car’s tinted windows.
The five Greek Cypriots had entered the north in the same car from the British Dhekelia base through the Strovilia crossing point, near Famagusta, on July 19, though the police and prosecutors have claimed that only four identity cards were handed over for inspection on the Turkish Cypriot side of the crossing point. The five Greek Cypriots deny this.
As such, one of the five Greek Cypriots stands accused of having entered the north illegally, while the other four stand accused of having aided and abetted that illegal entry.
On Thursday, the court approved the prosecution’s request, and as such, everyone involved with the case was immediately taken to Strovilia.
According to newspaper Ozgur Gazete’s editor-in-chief Pinar Barut, who witnessed the site visit in Strovilia, the visit lasted for exactly 23 minutes.
During those 23 minutes, she said, the five Greek Cypriots, who were chained to each other, first went to the western side of the crossing point, from whence one drives from the British Dhekelia base into the north, and “checked the signs” indicating that the crossing point area is a restricted zone.
She said that from there, they travelled eastwards to the booths, with those present then examining the inside of the booth and the view from them to the road.
It had been hoped that the car in which the Greek Cypriots had arrived in the north would be used for a re-enactment of their crossing but given the fact that it has been left parked outside the Trikomo police station since July 19 and gathered a significant amount of dust, it was deemed unusable.
Earlier, a civilian court had indefinitely suspended the case regarding the Greek Cypriots’ lawyers’ appeal against the decision for them to remain in custody, meaning that they will likely remain in custody throughout the duration of their trials, of which they face two.
The first, in a military court, concerns their alleged illegal entry, while the second, in a civilian court, concerns charges of privacy violations, trespassing, and breaching the peace – offences which they allegedly committed while visiting the village of Gastria, near Trikomo, on July 19.
Regarding the second case, the Turkish Cypriot authorities also arrested two Turkish Cypriots, an 83-year-old estate agent and an employee of the north’s land registry, on suspicion of aiding and abetting the five. They were both released on bail on August 7.
The case regarding the five Greek Cypriots’ entry to the north will resume on Friday morning, with it expected that the police officer who scanned the identity cards upon their arrival in the north on July 19 will testify.
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