Matsakis hearing in north adjourned

A TURKISH Cypriot ‘court’ yesterday postponed MEP Marios Matsakis’ trial until March 3, after he failed to turn up for his hearing on charges of stealing a Turkish flag last year.

The prosecutor told the court he had decided to inform Matsakis of the trial’s adjournment at the checkpoint, but that the MEP had not made an appearance, despite saying in the past that he would.

The prosecutor asked the ‘court’ to give him a month’s adjournment so that he could inform Matsakis of his hearing date.

The judge said that the MEP would have to be informed of his hearing date at the checkpoint if he tried to cross over to the occupied areas. The judge also asked an official from the Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign ministry’ to attend court on March 3 so that he could give details on Matsakis’ parliamentary immunity.

Last month, Matsakis told the Cyprus Mail he had no intention of reappearing at court in the north to answer to the charges of stealing a Turkish flag last year, as he did not recognise the courts 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.