FOREIGN TRESPASSERS and illegal developers of Greek Cypriot properties in the north were warned in no uncertain terms yesterday that “the party is over” by the lawyer for Melitis Apostolides in the Orams case.
Constantis Candounas warned that there was “no free ride” anymore for those who exploit Greek Cypriot properties in the north following the victory in the English Court of Appeal on Tuesday. “My only message to trespassers and illegal developers in the north is that the party is over. I’m sorry,” he said.
The English Appeals Court ruled in favour of Apostolides, ordering the Orams to demolish the home they built on his land in Lapithos, return the property and pay back rent (£300 for every month since 2002 plus interest) and legal costs, estimated at around £1.35 million sterling.
The Orams legal team yesterday sought to appeal the decision, which the appellate judges had already ruled was final. “They are trying to argue the inarguable,” said Candounas. They also sought a 42-day stay of execution to see how the decision could be implemented. The authorities in the north have already announced they would not implement the decision.
Candounas told the Cyprus Mail that if the Orams failed to pay what was due, then Apostolides could go after their assets in the UK, following the latest seminal ruling. If they failed to demolish the house and stop trespassing, “then they are in contempt of court and it’s up to the court to decide how to react”.
Greek Cypriot refugee Apostolides said he didn’t take pleasure in the Orams’ suffering or anybody else’s, but that he was trying to get his property and rights back.
“I may not be a politician but I am an active ‘politis’, the Greek word for citizen,” he said, adding, “It’s not about the money anyway. It’s about returning home.
Candounas thanked all those who contributed to the successful outcome of the case, paying special tribute to Achilleas Demetriades, the lawyer for Titina Loizidou, who “opened the way for all of us”.
He also thanked “those who actually chose Cherie Blair (the wife of Tony Blair) to be our counterpart”, noting “she is a brilliant lawyer”.
“No one can claim that the Orams did not have adequate legal representation, they had the best legal assistance money could buy. Mrs Blair has provided for free a publicity that we would have to spend millions of pounds to obtain. She turned this into a high profile case and where people would not have heard of this case now they have heard and are aware of the situation that exists in Cyprus,” he said.
The architect of her appointment was probably a Cypriot, who thought “to appoint the mukhtar’s wife to represent them,” the lawyer added.
Candounas is already working on a new brief, having received instructions from the owners of the Dome Hotel in Kyrenia to sue for trespass 60 tourists who visited the hotel in 2009.
He clarified that “we do not object to the development of tourism in the north, I believe that it should be encouraged but not at the expense of the Greek Cypriots and definitely not in Greek Cypriot properties”.
He called on Turkish Cypriots to reach some arrangement with the real owners of these properties, and in particular with the Castellis family who own the Dome.
“This is not a political thing, this is purely business and I am sure an agreement could be reached between the parties involved,” he said, adding, “There is no intention to stop business in the north, but there is no free ride, the party is over.”
He is also in the process of taking a British couple to court for their use of property in occupied Karmi village, while he has received instructions from Charita Mandoles and her family to institute legal proceedings against the Republic of Turkey in Cyprus courts. When a judgment is obtained, the family will try to have it enforced in Europe, he said.
Replying to questions, Candounas noted that if he wanted to, Apostolides could have sued the Turkish Cypriots living in his house, “because his house is next to the holiday house of the Orams…but he didn’t”.
Apostolides added: “I could understand in some way the Turkish Cypriots living in my house but I could not accept somebody coming from abroad, especially as an investor, speculator, to have more rights on my property than anybody else.”
Asked whether he would sue for trespass the hundreds of Greek Cypriots who frequent casinos in the north built on Greek Cypriot land, Candounas replied: “I’m a lawyer, not one of the three musketeers”.
