By Martin Hellicar
AN AUTOPSY carried out in the occupied areas yesterday has confirmed that an enclaved Greek Cypriot found burned in his car on Tuesday was murdered.Turkish Cypriot ‘police’ said 69-year-old Stelios Charpas “died as a result of injuries caused by firearms,” Turkish Cypriot news agency Tak reported.The autopsy was carried out in occupied Varosha in the morning, but even before the results were released Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was describing the death as a “monstrous murder,” agreeing, for once, with the government’s assessment of a situation.The government insisted from the off that the death of Charpas — whose charred remains were found in his burnt- out car near the occupied village of Rizokarpaso on Tuesday — was the 27th murder of an enclaved Greek Cypriot at the hands of Turks since 1974.In a written statement released yesterday afternoon, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou confirmed the Tak report, saying the government had “information” the autopsy had proved murder.The autopsy was attended by an Unficyp representative and the UN report on the examination is expected to be handed to the government today.Papapetrou also confirmed Turkish Cypriot press reports that four people had been arrested in the north in connection with the killing. Turkish Cypriot papers said three of the suspects were brothers; Papapetrou stated they were all Turkish Cypriots.The government, distrustful of the occupation regime, has asked the UN to make arrangements for Charpas’s body to be brought over to the government-controlled areas for a second autopsy.”We have received assurances from the north that the body can come to the south tomorrow morning,” Unficyp spokeswoman Sarah Russell said yesterday.The Foreign Ministry yesterday demanded of the UN permanent representative to Cyprus, Dame Ann Hercus, that the UN conduct a “full investigation of the circumstances of the murder,” Papapetrou said.Unficyp, who are investigating the case along with Turkish Cypriot police, are treating the incident as a “suspicious death,” Russell said.Papapetrou also told his daily press briefing that Nicosia considered the UN partly responsible for the murder.”The mild manner with which the UN Secretary general (Kofi Annan) dealt with the issue of the enclaved in his last report allows the occupation authorities the luxury of not treating this issue with the necessary seriousness,” he said.The government has consistently complained to the UN about Turkish treatment of some 500 mostly elderly Greek Cypriots surviving in the Karpas enclave of Rizokarpaso.Attorney-general Alecos Markides had ordered Cyprus police to investigate Charpas’s murder and legal measures might eventually be taken against the occupation regime, Papapetrou stated. He did not say what such measures might be.Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said on Wednesday the government was “shocked by the murder”.Russell added that although the UN had secured permission for the man’s family to visit the north to attend the autopsy, the family had declined and Charpas’ wife Yiannoula was expected in the south today.But one of Charpas’s sons, Sotiris, later said the occupation regime had refused him permission to visit his mother and brother at Rizokarpaso. He said no reason was given for the refusal and he feared for the safety of his mother and brother, adding that he would like to see them move to the south.Humanitarian Affairs officer Takis Christopoulos said the victim would be buried in Limassol after the second autopsy.However, Russell said the victim’s wife had “expressed a preference for her husband to be buried in the north and we could arrange that.”
