Three Greek Cypriot policemen detained by Turkish Cypriot authorities were released on Tuesday evening after paying fines imposed by a military and civilian ‘court’ in the Turkish occupied north. The ‘courts’ also ordered that their equipment — including a police car, a motorbicycle and firearms should be confiscated.
The three men were detained after entering the buffer zone on Sunday afternoon in pursuit of a Turkish Cypriot driver who had ignored a signal to stop. Imposing the fine of 10,000 Turkish lira (some 4200 euro) or three months in jail the military ‘court’ said the men — Antonis Antoniou, Savvas Savva and Christodoulos Anastasiou — were guilty of a grave offence. Their lawyers said the three had not intentionally entered a military area, but were simply pursuing the driver who had refused to stop.
A civilian ‘court’ imposed further fines on two of the three for illegal possession of firearms. All three were bound over for assault. They were taken to hospital in the occupied areas for medical tests and then released, crossing over into the government controlled areas through Ledra Palace checkpoint.
Cyprus Weekly