Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-10-13

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Euro MP Green confident: Cyprus will join the EU

[02] Bishop: Now it's up to the Holy Synod

[03] Boat people in barracks as Cyprus-bases talks go on

[04] `No grounds' for watchdog probe into Kyprianou

[05] Hospital eye chief arrested after `Sting'

[06] Spying confession was `under duress'

[07] Waiter admits infecting wife with Aids virus

[08] Mother-in-law killed, two hurt after family dispute

[09] Tourist's death: driver faces reckless charge

[01] Euro MP Green confident: Cyprus will join the EU

"CYPRUS will join the EU", Euro MP Pauline Green said yesterday, following her talks with President Glafcos Clerides.

Green, leader of the Socialist Group, the European Parliament's largest faction, was confident about Cyprus' accession, despite some EU members' misgivings because of the island's continued division.

She also praised Clerides' invitation to the island's Turkish-Cypriot community to join ranks with the republic in the ongoing EU membership talks. "It would be unthinkable," Green said, "after another two or three years of in-depth discussion, changing Cyprus' laws to bring them in line with the EU and all of the hard work and effort, that any country of the EU should at that stage say `Ah, sorry'."

She went on: "If you are a government of the EU you don't open up EU membership to a country that you intend later to refuse. This is not the game the EU plays," Green said.

She said that some EU members' statements to the contrary are merely "part of the game of international politics to keep pressure on for a solution" to the Cyprus problem.

France and Italy have tried to make a Cyprus seat at the EU table conditional on an end to its 24-year division because of the Turkish occupation. "These rumours and issues arise every time we reach a decision point in some way on Cyprus," Green said. "The important thing is that every time those decision have to be made, the 15 governments are unanimous in Cyprus' favour."

The British Labour MP noted that "the (EU) governments are carrying through the commitment they made to Cyprus when they said Cyprus will join the union. "This should give you confidence that the way is set, and the die is cast, and Cyprus will join the EU," she said.

Green called Clerides' invitation for Turkish-Cypriot participation in the accession talks "a powerful message to the EU that the president of Cyprus understands and fully appreciates his commitment to the Turkish Cypriot community, who are a part of this island".

The Euro MP commented: "Mr. Clerides has made a very generous offer, an open offer, which Mr. Denktash should see can be monitored by the rest of the EU as to whether his people are playing a full part when they are engaged in that process."

She noted that "there are many Turkish Cypriots who view EU membership very well." The question is, she said, whether Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash "is prepared to come on board and at least consider EU membership for the whole of the island - which, of course, we are determined will happen."

Denktash has not only rejected Clerides' offer of a seat at the EU talks table, but has insisted the EU invitation to the republic be rescinded as a condition of his resuming any talks with UN or other mediators towards a Cyprus solution. "It's up to him," Green said. "You can only open the door, and he has to enter through it."

During her official visit, which began on Saturday and ended yesterday, Green also had talks with Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides, House President Spyros Kyprianou, former president and current chief Cyprus-EU negotiator George Vassiliou, UN Chief of Mission Dame Ann Hercus and US Ambassador Kenneth Brill.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[02] Bishop: Now it's up to the Holy Synod

The press gathered round the bishop after he had a meeting lasting three and a half hours with Archbishop Chrysostomos yesterday. Today, the Holy Synod will examine the report, by a special investigating committee, into the allegations against Chrysanthos.

Speaking after yesterday's talks, Chrysanthos said he had not been asked to resign and therefore had no intention of doing so. He added that if such an issue is raised it would be discussed at the meeting of the Holy Synod. "The Archbishop's view is that the Holy Synod should decide," Chrysanthos told the waiting journalists.

He has been implicated in fraud allegations involving millions of pounds both in Cyprus and overseas. He has steadily maintained his innocence and Archbishop Chrysostomos has refused to express an opinion on Chrysanthos' guilt or innocence until the issue has been properly investigated.

Chrysostomos has only gone so far as to suggest that Chrysanthos may have been misled by others in certain business dealings.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[03] Boat people in barracks as Cyprus-bases talks go on

The 75 migrants, who landed from a leaking boat on British Sovereign Bases area shores, have been moved to new SBA quarters, pending the conclusion of talks between Britain and Cyprus to settle their status.

Last night those talks had not resolved apparent differences of opinion as to whether Britain or Cyprus has ultimate responsibility for the illegal immigrants, Piers Cazalet, British High Commission spokesman, said.

"We haven't heard anything back from the Cyprus government. Discussions are still continuing," Cazalet said yesterday. SBA Spokesman Rob Need also denied that the landing of the migrants' boat so close to the Akrotiri Royal Air Force Base in any way compromised security at the highly guarded air base.

All the migrants are now in "a more appropriate accommodation... in a new barrack block, not yet occupied" by military personnel, Need said. Originally they were housed in the base's departure lounge.

But Need said that sheltering the 75 aliens, including a baby born at sea, in the new barracks building "has put us out, because the (designated military) occupants cannot move into it". "We have no spare accommodation on the island," he said. "If we hadn't had this new block waiting to be taken over we would have difficulty. They would have stayed in the departure lounge, probably on camp beds. It was a very basic shelter."

An additional factor was that a major brush-fire on August 10 burned 14 homes at the Akrotiri RAF base.

Need dismissed a report in the Sunday Times of London that the landing of the refugees' boat "raised questions about security" at the Akrotiri air base, which the newspaper called "the biggest RAF base in the world".

"I can tell you that is untrue," Need said of the report. "It was not surprise, they were seen coming ashore. By the time 17 of them got to the top of the cliff on the Akrotiri Peninsula - not at the base of RAF Akrotiri, the perimeter of the base is a lot smaller than the size of Akritori Peninsula - they were met by police and customs officers and arrested."

One diplomatic source yesterday said the Cyprus republic had in the past taken custody of illegal immigrants who wandered into Britain's Dhelekia Garrison.

The source suggested that Cyprus' apparent reluctance to take the 75 boat people is dues, in part, to the fact there are so many of them and that there were still problems with some of the 113 migrants who came ashore on June 29 from an overcrowded Syrian trawler.

Attorney General Alecos Markides told The Sunday Mail that, according to his preliminary reading of the Treaty of Establishment, Britain, not Cyprus, is responsible for the 75 boat people. The 1960 treaty ended Cyprus' status as a British colony and ceded to Britain the two Sovereign Bases Areas, in perpetuity.

The leaking boat carrying the 75 migrants washed ashore after its three-man crew abandoned them at sea and fled in an inflatable dinghy, said an SBA spokesman. The three crewmen, believed to be Lebanese, are said to have extracted $2,000 from each of the 75 for passage to what they claimed was to have been Italy.

The penniless migrants spent two days adrift before some of them fixed the boat's engine, allowing it to make for shore after sighting the Red Cross atop the Princess Mary Hospital at the Akrotiri air base.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[04] `No grounds' for watchdog probe into Kyprianou

THE House Watchdog Committee will not probe unlawful enrichment allegations against House President Spyros Kyprianou following yesterday's ruling by Attorney-general Alecos Markides.

After being called on by Kyprianou to rule on the issue, Markides said yesterday in his written reply that on the basis of the evidence no investigation whatsoever was justified.

"On the basis of the content of the unsigned document there is no justification for any kind of investigation," said Markides' written response to Kyprianou.

The document, which allegedly shows that members of Kyprianou's family obtained three plots of land in Engomi, Nicosia, below the market value, was submitted to the House committee for further investigation.

Last Thursday the committee postponed taking any decision on the allegations after Markides questioned whether it had the right to investigate a fellow member of the House. However, yesterday's ruling has ensured the matter is taken no further by the watchdog committee.

"The committee will not convene today and the issue is now considered closed," said House Watchdog Committee chairman Christos Pourgourides. But the committee has decided to go ahead probing Pourgourides' bribery and corruption allegations levelled at Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides. Kyprianou said yesterday he was "not surprised" by the Markides ruling and said he was ready to make public his personal wealth.

All along, the Diko boss has stated that the allegations were part of a smear campaign to damage his political career. Relations between him and Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades have soured as Diko believe that deputies from the ruling party were encouraged to get the "Kyprianou scandal" on the committee's agenda.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[05] Hospital eye chief arrested after `Sting'

WATCHDOG Committee Chairman Christos Pourgourides said yesterday that he was pleased with the `Sting' operation which saw the arrest of Ophthalmic Clinic head Michaellis Constantinides on Saturday.

Constantinides, 52, head of the eye department at Nicosia's Makarios Hospital was arrested in Larnaca. At the time of his arrest, it is alleged that he had £2,000 on him which he had apparently requested from Dr Andreas Vorkas in return for getting Vorkas' company a contract to supply the hospital with £35,000 worth of machinery.

But Vorkas, it is alleged, had contacted Pourgourides and police were waiting. yesterday, Constantinides he was remanded in custody for four days.

Pourgourides said that although Vorkas had initially contacted him, the doctor had been reluctant to proceed with the deception, but that he (Pourgourides) had convinced him of the need for such operations.

Vorkas said he had realised it was his duty to come forward when the alleged bribe was requested, and that he hoped other citizens would follow his example.

Constantinides' defence lawyer, Nicos Papaefstathiou, criticised the statements, however, saying there should not be so much speculation about the case before a proper investigation had taken place.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[06] Spying confession was `under duress'

MARONITE Giorgos Josephides, accused of supplying Turkish Cypriot Intelligence with Greek Cypriot military secrets, has claimed police coerced him into confessing to the crimes.

Josephides, 43, an employee of the electricity authority, was arrested at the Ledra Palace checkpoint on October 3 when trying to cross into the occupied areas, after the authorities received a tip-off about him. Police alleged that at the time of his arrest classified military documents were found in his possession. Josephides had apparently been under police surveillance since June.

On Saturday it was revealed that he had apparently confessed to giving information to the Turkish side. But, speaking on Monday at Nicosia District Court, where his remand order was renewed for a further eight days, Josephides said he had been physically abused by police and this was why he had confessed.

Police officer Athanassios Socratous said that Josephides had made the confession voluntarily last Thursday. In it he apparently stated that he had given the Turkish side photographs and information relating to the National Guard, in return for payment.

But Josephides said he had said this only under duress, and that it was untrue. He was, he said, an informant for the Greek Cypriot special police services, KYP, and had, in June last year, given them information about Turkish plans to assassinate MP Marios Matsakis and journalist Lazaros Mavros.

Josephides was remanded in custody for a further eight days and the court ruled that his complaints be investigated.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[07] Waiter admits infecting wife with Aids virus

A CYPRIOT waiter serving a 12-month sentence for negligently exposing two women to the deadly Aids virus yesterday pleaded guilty to charges that he knowingly infected his former Swedish wife.

Andreas Michael, 28, was brought from Nicosia Central Prison to a Larnaca District Court yesterday. He pleaded guilty to negligently transmitting the Aids virus to his wife and concealing his HIV condition. The court deferred sentence to a later date.

On June 9, Michael was sentenced to 12 months in prison after being found guilty of negligently transmitting or exposing the AIDS virus by having unprotected sex with two women and not informing them of his condition.

One of the woman involved was his fiancee, who contracted the virus, and the other was a mother-of-three who is understood not to have contracted Aids.

State prosecutor Mimis Avraamides said the Swedish woman contracted the virus after a holiday affair with the Larnaca waiter. She tested HIV positive when she returned to Cyprus in December, 1994, to start a college course.

It was only after she tested HIV positive that Michael revealed to her that he had suffered from Aids since December the previous year, said Avraamides.

After a Cyprus civil wedding in January 1995, the woman returned to Stockholm in September and made an accusation to the Swedish police that her husband had given her Aids.

When Michael went to Sweden several months later to meet his wife he was arrested on arrival. But, despite spending nearly six months in police custody, he was released when the authorities failed to make a case stand before a Swedish court.

During mitigation, Michael's defence lawyer, Andreas Klaides, told Larnaca court yesterday: "Certainly the sentence must act as a deterrent against transmitting the virus but the accused regrets his actions and urges leniency."

Klaides added that Michael kept his condition a secret from his partner because he was scared he might lose her. The lawyer requested that any prison sentence run concurrently with the one Michael is already serving.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[08] Mother-in-law killed, two hurt after family dispute

A MUNICIPALITY employee is being held in police custody on suspicion of killing his daughter's mother-in-law, shooting the son-in-law and injuring his daughter's father-in-law over the weekend.

Victoras Menelaou, 41, an Ayios Athanasiou municipality employee, was detained in custody after allegedly taking his hunting weapon and killing Maroula Loizou, 50, and seriously injuring his son-in-law Marinos, 22, and his daughter's father-in-law, Andreas Loizou, 48.

It is understood that Menelaou was in possession of a shotgun as part of his job to exterminate stray dogs for the local authority.

The suspect was remanded for eight days by a Limassol district court on Sunday after what police said was a tragic killing motivated by a family dispute over custody of a child.

Police believe the incident was connected to a telephone call received by the suspect from his 20-year-old daughter Demetra, who claimed she had been beaten by her husband Marinos.

Demetra is also said to have told her father that her in-laws had refused to return her four-month-old baby because they thought her an "unsuitable mother".

Police said it was after this conversation that Menelaou took a loaded shotgun to the house of his daughter's in-laws in Ayios Athanasiou, Limassol.

Maroula Loizou died of her injuries when Menelaou fired his shotgun at the entrance of the house at around midnight on Saturday, said police. Andreas and Marinos Loizou are being treated at Limassol General hospital for serious eye wounds.

Menelaou has given a statement to police apparently confessing to the shooting and faces charges of manslaughter and two counts of attempted murder.

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

[09] Tourist's death: driver faces reckless charge

A GREEK national faces a reckless driving charge after an elderly British woman was killed and her sister seriously injured in an accident in Kato Paphos.

Pauline Smith, 74, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, was fatally injured and her sister, Violet, also 74, was seriously injured when they were hit by a car while trying to cross Poseidon Avenue in Kato Paphos.

The accident happened at around 10.40pm on Saturday. In unknown circumstances, a car driven by Greek national Demetrios Veryakis, 24, hit the elderly couple who were on holiday in Paphos.

Although Veryakis passed an Alcotest he was arrested and questioned by police before being released on Sunday afternoon.

"The suspect was questioned and gave a statement. We are now looking at charges concerning reckless driving causing death, which the Attorney- general's office will have to decide on before the case goes to court," Paphos traffic chief Andreas Hadjiioannou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

Violet Smith is being treated at Paphos General hospital.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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