Proceedings against Turkish Cypriot activist Oz Karahan and former Sigma TV journalist Giorgos Tattis were adjourned on Tuesday after three prosecution witnesses failed to appear before Nicosia district court.

Defence lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou said the absent witnesses were police officers listed to testify and that no explanation was provided by the prosecuting authority for their absence.

The case was rescheduled for November 16.

Speaking after the hearing, Efstathiou criticised the repeated delays in proceedings, arguing that the absence of prosecution witnesses was creating significant difficulties for the progress of the case.

He also revealed that a request submitted to the attorney-general a year ago seeking a stay of the criminal prosecution remains unanswered.

“For a year and a half now, my clients have been dragged through the courts,” he said.

“Their crime was not violence, not incitement to hatred, but the hanging of a banner and the public expression of a political position.”

Karahan and Tattis also expressed frustration at the latest postponement, saying the continued delays were causing ongoing hardship.

In a joint statement, they questioned why they were required to organise their lives around court appearances while prosecution witnesses could fail to attend without apparent consequences.

“Once again, we are deeply concerned by the continued postponement of the trial of our case,” they said, adding that the absent witnesses were understood to be the police officers involved in their arrests.

The charges relate to an incident during the October 1 Independence Day parade in Nicosia.

Karahan and Tattis were arrested after unfurling a banner reading “Republic of Cyprus the only solution” opposite the official stand.

Police said at the time that banners containing political content were prohibited at the event and alleged that the pair refused instructions to remove it.

Authorities further claimed that one of the men verbally abused officers, that both resisted arrest and that one was additionally accused of assaulting a police officer.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges when they appeared before the court in June 2025.