A TURKISH Cypriot ‘court’ yesterday held Greek Cypriot contractor Panicos Tsiakourmas over for another nine days on allegations of drug possession.
Tsiakourmas’ wife Niki crossed to the north to attend the 45-minute hearing in occupied Nicosia.
On her return, she told journalists at the Ledra Palace checkpoint that her husband’s health had deteriorated and that he had been taken to hospital. Tsiakourmas is a diabetic.
“What was discussed in court today was about his health and about him going to hospital,” she said, adding that his sugar levels had been high on Monday. “The court decided to keep him detained at the hospital.”
She said her husband’s defence had gone to ‘court’ to ask for bail, but that other issues had arisen.
“The court just said he could stay in hospital for 24 hours and maybe longer depending on his condition,” she said. “His morale is low. He’s in a terrible condition. We need him to come back home.”
The 39-year old father of three was taken forcibly from his car on December 13 on the Pyla-Pergmos road within British bases territory. Last week, the bases staged a reconstruction of the abduction, based on evidence collected from eyewitnesses and other sources.
Tsiakourmas’ red pick-up was found with the engine running and the lights on, and the driver’s door open. He had been on his way to pick up Turkish Cypriot workers when he disappeared. He later turned up in custody in the north, on suspicion of possessing 1.5 kilos of cannabis. Bases investigations confirmed there were no traces of drugs in his car.
Tsiakourmas’ abduction came two weeks after the arrest of Turkish Cypriot drugs suspect Omer Tekogul, 42, from the mixed buffer-zone village of Pyla.
Tekogul’s trial on charges of possessing two kilos of heroin began at Larnaca court on Monday. At issue is whether police arrested him inside the UN-controlled village, where they do not have jurisdiction.
The defence claims Tekogul was arrested illegally, and are claiming entrapment by police, who arrest him after a sting operation.
Tekogul’s trial continued yesterday, with prosecution witness police officer Yiannis Ioannou cross-examined for three hours by the defence.
Ioannou said he and several other officers had been commissioned by their superiors to check out allegations of drugs smuggling in the village, and that they had been approached by Tekogul, who had allegedly offered them three kilos of heroin for £48,000, later reduced to £22,000 for two kilos.
The trial continues today.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
