Greek man on spying charge

THE CASE of a Greek man accused of spying against the Republic was yesterday referred to the Nicosia Criminal court, which will convene on February 20.

Soteris Katsikas, currently serving a one-year jail term for credit card fraud, appeared in court without a lawyer yesterday, claiming he was only a “pawn”.

Katsikas requested that a lawyer be appointed by the state, since he had no income, and no one from his family was on the island.

The court appointed a lawyer and heard that the suspect was charged with six counts of spying, inciting another person to spy, and giving out classified information important for the island’s security.

The offences were allegedly committed in August 1999, while Katsikas was serving as a non-commissioned officer with the National Guard.

But the case had not emerged until he was arrested and convicted on credit card fraud, on July 13, 2000.

According to reports, the suspect allegedly confided to another convict that he had spied for the Turks, conveying information to them through his mobile phone.

Authorities monitored his phone while he was in prison and allegedly found he had been talking to Turkish agents in the north.

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.