Driver of car testifies in Greek Cypriots’ case in north

The case regarding the alleged illegal entry of five Greek Cypriots into the north in July continued at northern Nicosia’s military court on Thursday, with the defendant who was driving the car called to testify.

It had been initially expected that prosecution witnesses would continue to be heard during Thursday’s hearing, as it had initially been said that upwards of 20 witnesses would be called to the stand, with a total of 17 prosecution witnesses having been called in the hearings prior to Thursday.

However, at the beginning of the day’s hearing, the prosecution declared that they had no more witnesses to call, with newspaper Ozgur Gazete’s editor-in-chief Pinar Barut, who was present in court, saying that this move has the potential to be “important” and indicative of a “softened stance” on the prosecution’s part.

The five had been arrested on July 19 and were released on bail last week, with the police and the prosecution alleging that when the five 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.

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. The five Greek Cypriots deny the charges.

With no more prosecution witnesses to be called, the defence instead began to call witnesses, with one of the five Greek Cypriots who was arrested in July, the driver of the car, among the first to testify.

He spoke in English and told the court he had gathered four identity cards from his four passengers, alongside his own identity card, and handed the five cards to the police officer on duty at the crossing point.

He then told the court that the defendant accused of entering the north illegally “was not hiding” when the car crossed into the north, and that “there was no reason for him to hide”, as he had been “coming and going to the north for years”.

Later in the hearing, he was asked whether he had “filed a lawsuit in the south” regarding Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north, and said he had “never even considered filing one”.

At this point, the blue folder containing details related to property which was found in the Greek Cypriots’ possession when they were arrested was mentioned by the prosecution, which insisted that the existence of the blue folder was evidence that “the aim was to file a lawsuit in the south”.

The defence rejected this, and also pointed out that the contents of the blue folder are outside the scope of the case being tried at the military court, as it is at a civilian court in Trikomo where they stand accused of privacy violations, trespassing and breaching the peace related to their movements in Trikomo prior to their arrest.

The defendant then told the court that he has been travelling to the north since the crossing points first opened more than 20 years ago, before the prosecution once again insisted that “your purpose was to come and collect data and file a lawsuit in the south”.

In response, the defendant said that “we do this all the time”, and added, “we come to have coffee, to have dinner, to show our father’s property to our friends”.

The prosecution then pointed out that when the car crossed into the north, the five did not open the rear window, with the defendant saying, “I have no responsibility to open my vehicle’s windows if the officer did not ask me to”.

The case will continue on September 24, while the five will appear in court in Trikomo for the next hearing of their other trial on Friday.