Questions have been raised after one of the five Greek Cypriots who remain in custody after having been arrested in the north in July was not provided with medicine “for days” after being taken ill.
According to Turkish Cypriot newspaper Ozgur Gazete, the man, aged 68 years old, had suffered from health problems for an extended period of time while being held in custody, but “was denied medical attention and treatment despite court orders”.
This culminated in last Wednesday’s hearing of the military court case the five are facing being adjourned as he was too ill to attend.
The newspaper wrote that the man had been examined by a doctor and diagnosed with inflammation in his intestinal lining, before being prescribed medical treatment for the illness.
However, it added, “this medication was not given to the patient by the prison’s administration for days”, and the man was left in the north’s central prison without medication, having not been taken to hospital either.
It said that this had been raised at Friday’s supreme court hearing, wherein one of the remands handed down to the five Greek Cypriots was found to be illegal, and that the prosecution had said that prison staff “could not make it on time” to the pharmacy on time to pick the man’s medication up after Wednesday’s hearing.
The prosecution added that Thursday was a public holiday in the north, and that all the pharmacies were as such closed.
“There is only one pharmacy with which the prison has a contract, and it was closed,” the prosecution is quoted as saying.
Ozgur Gazete’s editor-in-chief Pinar Barut had said outside court last week that it was clearly “visible” in court that the man was ill, and that he arrived “bent double” due to other health issues, having reported pain in his back and waist.
The man had on Wednesday told the court through an interpreter that he has “severe pain in his waist and back”, that he “cannot move” and is “paralysed” by the pain, and that he has not slept for four days.
At a previous hearing last month, Barut had said the man had lost “about 10 kilograms” since being arrested, while the remaining four arrested Greek Cypriots had all lost between three and five kilograms.
The police and the prosecution allege that when they crossed in one car from the British Dhekelia base through the Strovilia crossing point, near Famagusta, 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 has been charged with illegally entering the north, while the other four are accused of aiding and abetting the illegal entry. Their next hearing at the military court will be held on Wednesday
They also face charges of privacy violations, trespassing, and breaching the peace at a civilian court in Trikomo. The next hearing of that case has been set for Friday.
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