THE RELEASE of Greek Cypriot contractor Panicos Tsiakourmas from the north has opened the way for the possible release of convicted drugs smuggler Omer Tekogul, who was jailed for ten years last month.
Although the government yesterday categorically denied there was any connection between the two cases, neither Attorney-general Alecos Markides nor Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou ruled out the possibility of early release for Tekogul, aged 42.
“The President of the Republic has not informed me of any intention on his part to execute his constitutional right and pardon Tekogul. At the same time, he has not said anything to the contrary either. I have no authority to comment on this issue,” Papapetrou told his daily briefing.
“The only thing I can categorically repeat is that the two cases are not connected.”
Markides told the Cyprus Mail that reports that Tekogul might now be released were speculative and inappropriate. Asked whether this meant Tekogul would not be released, Markides merely repeated his comment that such reports were speculation.
It is thought the Turkish Cypriot side expects Tekogul to be freed in return for Tsiakourmas` release on Thursday, two hours after being convicted of trafficking in 1.1 kilos of cannabis. He was sentenced to six months in jail, but the four and a half months he spent in detention were counted as time served.
The Greek Cypriot contractor was abducted from British Bases territory last December, two weeks after Tekogul was arrested on charges of possessing two kilos of heroin.
Following Tekogul’s arrest, which the Turkish Cypriot side insisted took place within the UN-controlled buffer zone village of Pyla, where Greek Cypriot police have no jurisdiction, the Turkish Cypriot authorities threatened a Greek Cypriot would be kidnapped if he was not released.
Tsiakourmas, 39 and diabetic, disappeared on the morning of December 13 on the Pyla-Pergamos road as he was driving to pick up some Turkish Cypriot workers. Investigations by the British bases concluded he had been abducted. Bases police found no trace of drugs in his abandoned vehicle.
Britain was angered both by the abduction from its territory, and by the fact that all the evidence it submitted to the ‘court’ in the north relating to the kidnapping had been ignored.
It is believed the Turkish Cypriot side came under heavy pressure from the British government to release Tsiakourmas, both because the charges were bogus and because his mother suddenly fell ill. She died early on Thursday, only hours before he was freed.
Papapetrou said yesterday the government welcomed the efforts made by Britain to have Tsiakourmas released. “The British authorities essentially provided evidence to the claims we were making, that is about this being a kidnapping and that the charge of drug possession was bogus,” Papapetrou said.
Sources in the north said that, in the end, the Turkish Cypriot side had found itself backed up against the wall.
“They were looking for a way out,” the source said. “This way was good for them. They were happy to get a conviction and they don’t have to ask themselves questions about whether their own police were lying.”
Several newspapers in the north supported Tsiakourmas’ innocence, but were careful in their commentary yesterday, as criticising a ‘court’ decision in the north is a punishable offence.
Opposition Avrupa said: “It is true that the judges have the right of judicial discretion but this does not mean that they can ignore the evidence. In the court of our conscience we found Tsiakourmas innocent from the beginning. We still believe he was innocent.”
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.
