FORMER FINANCE minister Michalis Sarris spent another night behind bars yesterday even though his three-day remand by a Turkish Cypriot court in connection with alleged sexual offences had expired.
Sarris was remanded in custody for three days on Friday, along with a 17-year-old Turk – according to Turkish Cypriot reports – and the 29-year-old owner of the house in which they were found. The three men were arrested in connection with the alleged crime of committing an “unnatural act”.
Reports said Sarris’ lawyer has rejected the charge, arguing that his client had merely paid €20 to be massaged by the 17-year-old.
The three were taken to a court in the occupied part of Nicosia yesterday where the Turkish Cypriot prosecution sought to have them re-remanded for a further eight days while also introducing four new people to the case. The court decided to keep the detainees in remand for one more night before deciding on whether to release them or grant police eight more days.
Prominent lawyers Constantis Candounas and Achilleas Demetriades were also present during yesterday’s remand hearing on behalf of the 65-year-old former minister and World Bank director.
According to a legal source, the prosecution are claiming Sarris performed an “unnatural act” with the 17-year-old while also preparing to charge him with “conspiring to commit a crime”.
Two teenage boys, believed to be aged 14 and 16, were also detained by Turkish Cypriot police last Saturday, though their relevance to the first case is not yet clear. The two minors did not have any legal representation when they appeared in court yesterday, resulting in one NGO rushing to provide them with a lawyer.
Another 24-year-old and 30-year-old were also remanded in custody for two days yesterday by the same court, though once again their relevance to the first case is not clear.
Meanwhile, the defence team for Sarris, the 17 and 29-year-old are claiming that Turkish Cypriot police used physical violence to extract testimonies from two of their clients, the 17 and 29-year-old.
One Turkish Cypriot commentator said police were trying to build a case of the existence of a male prostitution ring in an effort to link it to Sarris.
Another present during the four-hour court session said Sarris looked tired and frightened.
His arrest has brought to the foreground the antiquated colonial law which remains in place in the north on “unnatural” relations between men.
The Turkish Cypriot authorities remain the last in Europe to still see homosexuality as a crime. The existing law in the north covers all acts of sodomy regardless of sex or age. The age of consent for women in the north is 16, though this does not cover sodomy, while there is no limit at all for men, heterosexual or homosexual.
The age of consent in the Cyprus Republic for men and women is 17. Many Turkish Cypriot news reports, including an online newsletter distributed by the Turkish Cypriot authorities, have interpreted the case involving Sarris and the 17-year-old as one of sexual abuse of a minor, and not of sexual relations between two consenting males.
Eight NGO organisations yesterday released a statement outside the court condemning the continued use of the antiquated colonial law to criminalise homosexuality which has served to highlight the “homophobic” authorities and media in the north.
“There are no relationships against nature. There are laws against nature,” said the statement. “There is no appropriate law about the age of consent. This is a legal gap that we are working on to change and we will keep working on it. In this case the age issue is only being made an issue of because people associate homosexuality with paedophilia and this only feeds homophobic prejudice,” it added.
Greek Cypriot NGO for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered rights, Accept, also condemned the arrests which violate basic human rights by discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
Cyprus Mail
