Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-06-22

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Friday, June 22, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Pink slips scandal: Bambos appeals to Supreme Court

[02] Youth charged after concert riot

[03] Politis case: 'Papapetrou intervened in course of justice'

[04] Limassol stabbing: police hunt for attackers

[05] Unmarked Turkish Cypriot graves to be opened

[06] Maurer heads off concerns about status of SBAs

[07] Work needs to pick up pace to close remaining EU chapters

[08] High Commission's video message to British tourists: don't bring drugs

[09] UN: we don't need authorisation from Denktash to land our helicopters

[10] Clerides leaves clinic in 'excellent' shape

[01] Pink slips scandal: Bambos appeals to Supreme Court

CONVICTED DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades' twin brother Bambos yesterday appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision, which found him guilty for his involvement in a scam to provide 'pink slips' for cabaret artistes and jailed him for 18 months.

In their appeal, Bambos' lawyers Efstathios Efstathiou and Doros Theodorou argue that their client had been deprived of his constitutional right of being innocent until proven guilty and of a fair and impartial trial.

The appeal said Bambos had been tried and found guilty by the mass media, which made him the target of an unprecedented, brutal and merciless campaign of abuse.

His picture was published next to topless women while he was the main subject of the news for one month, the appeal said.

The defence lawyers said that Bambos wrote to Attorney-general Alecos Markides asking him to put an end to such behaviour but to no avail.

Not only did Markides not act to alleviate the situation - but he also made incriminatory statements against Bambos himself, they said.

Bambos was found guilty on June 11 of seven charges of forging official documents with intent to deceive, an offence carrying a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.

He was arrested in October 1999 during a police crackdown on corrupt pink slip practices.

The clean-up operation investigated information that police officers and others were aiding and abetting underworld prostitution rackets by providing permits for cabaret artistes, some of them forged.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Youth charged after concert riot

A LIMASSOL youth was yesterday charged with attacking a police officer when some two hundred fans tried to smash their way into a pop concert at the town's garden theatre on Wednesday night.

Two policemen were injured after the ticket-less youths smashed down the gate into the open-air venue, where Greek singer Antonis Remos was performing.

The incident happened at around 10pm on Wednesday. Heavy police reinforcements had to be rushed to the scene to restore order.

The stone-throwing gatecrashers did not interrupt Remos' performance. Ticket-paying fans were apparently totally unaware of the trouble at the gates.

One 17-year-old was arrested in connection with the incident. He was released yesterday afternoon after being charged with causing an affray and assaulting a police officer.

Limassol police said they were looking for a second youth in connection with the concert riot.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Politis case: 'Papapetrou intervened in course of justice'

PROMINENT lawyer Loukis Papaphillipou yesterday accused Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou of intervening in the course of justice for comments he made last week after a court ordered daily newspaper Politis to stop publishing reports about the business activities of a tobacco company.

The order prohibits Politis from publishing "libellous and defamatory" reports about C.T. Tobacco Limited until further court notice.

Politis appealed the decision, which was taken before the reports were proven in court to be libellous or defamatory.

Court procedures against the injunction began yesterday with continuous objections and exchanges from both sides.

Papaphillipou claimed the newspaper had misinterpreted the order.

In no case did it prohibit the circulation of the newspaper or hindered the freedom of the press, he said.

Papaphillippou charged Papapetrou of intervening with the course of justice by taking the side of the newspaper with the comments he made.

Papapetrou had expressed his personal opinion on the issue saying the island's libel laws needed urgent overhaul and that Politis' reports did not warrant an injunction.

C.T. Tobacco Director Antonis Zapitis said his company had nothing to do with cigarette smuggling adding that it was never investigated by authorities over such an issue.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Limassol stabbing: police hunt for attackers

SOVEREIGN Base Area and the republic's police were yesterday looking for two Limassol men in connection with the stabbing of a 30-year-old man in the village of Trahoni.

The incident happened at around 1.30pm yesterday.

Reports said the 30-year-old was visiting a woman, 28, in Trahoni at her house when he was attacked by her estranged husband and his brother.

The 30-year-old, who is believed to be having an affair with the woman, entered the veranda but was confronted by the brothers.

The three men initially argued verbally but the situation soon escalated with the exchange of blows.

Fighting continued and according to reports the husband attacked the man with a knife while his brother hit him with a club.

According to an SBA statement the 30-year-old drove himself to hospital where doctors found that he had seven non-threatening stab wounds along with numerous bruises and lacerations.

His wounds were treated and he was kept for observation.

The two men disappeared while SBA and the republic's police have issued warrants for their arrest.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Unmarked Turkish Cypriot graves to be opened

IN AN unprecedented humanitarian move, the government yesterday said it would open unmarked graves of Turkish Cypriots in a bid to identify victims of the 1974 invasion.

"We have the political will to go ahead, on humanitarian grounds, and look at cases of Turkish Cypriots who we know are buried in the free areas," Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said yesterday.

"This had to happen at some time. From the moment the political decision was taken for exhumation of Greek Cypriots, we had to do the same for Turkish Cypriots. They are also citizens of the Republic and they have the same rights," Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou told Reuters.

The government has been opening graves and identifying remains of Greeks and Greek Cypriots at two makeshift war cemeteries in Nicosia for the past two years. The remains of just over 100 war dead have been identified by DNA fingerprinting, using blood donated by the families of missing persons for comparison.

Cassoulides said both the success and the continuation of the government's new unilateral initiative would depend on there being practical co- operation from the Turkish Cypriot side.

The minister pointed out that identifying Turkish Cypriot remains would only be possible if their relatives could provide blood samples. "Identification presupposes taking blood samples to create a bank of genetic material from relatives of these Turkish Cypriots," he said.

"We will begin with a pilot effort at one well-known grave, and if we see there is a response and co-operation from the Turkish Cypriot side will we move ahead," the Foreign Minister said.

Cassoulides said he could "not define" when the pilot diggings would begin and did not disclose where the 'well-known grave' was.

The exhumation of Turkish Cypriot remains will be done by the same Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) team, headed by Dr William Haglund, that has been working on identifying the buried remains of Greeks and Greek Cypriots for the past two years. Cassoulides said the objectivity of the Haglund team was "beyond doubt".

The minister also said relatives of Turkish Cypriot missing persons would be welcome to observe the work of Haglund's PHR team.

The missing issue is a deeply emotive and politicised one. The Greek Cypriot side lists about 1,500 of its kin as missing since 1974, while the Turkish Cypriots say 804 of their own have been missing since the outbreak of intercommunal hostilities in 1963.

On July 31, 1997, the UN announced a breakthrough deal between President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash for the exchange of information on missing persons from both sides. The deal never amounted to much on the ground, mostly due to the parsity of the Turkish Cypriot response, but Cassoulides yesterday said he hoped Nicosia's new initiative would resurrect the effort. "We believe the agreement of July 31 must be implemented and observed by both sides," he said.

Yesterday's unilateral move was welcomed by relatives of the missing both in Cyprus and in Greece.

The chairman of the Pancyprian committee of relatives of the missing, Nicos Theodosiou, said he empathised with his counterparts in the north.

"If there is anyone who can understand the relatives of the Turkish Cypriot missing and what they are going through it is us, the relatives of the missing, who are going through the same drama. I do not think anyone could object to a procedure that could bring results for a family of Turkish Cypriots," Theodosiou said.

Mary Kouroupi, of the Pan Hellenic relatives of the missing, said she hoped the Cyprus government's efforts would prompt the Turkish Cypriot side to reciprocate by opening graves of Greek Cypriots in the occupied areas.

"I think this initiative has to happen so that we can co-operate a lot more, " she said.

Earlier this week, the government admitted that bungled Greek attempts at exhumations in Nicosia cemeteries in 1981 might have led to the wrong remains being handed over to relatives in Greece.

Cassoulides yesterday spoke of "many mistakes" in the handling of the missing issue over the years and, not for the first time, offered a public apology to the relatives.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Maurer heads off concerns about status of SBAs

FOREIGN Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said yesterday there were two solutions to prevent the British Bases from becoming an external border of the EU after Cyprus joins the bloc.

At present, the bases are excluded from Britain's membership of the EU. If Cyprus joins, they could theoretically end up in limbo.

Cassoulides said moves would either be made for the SBAs to join the EU, or special arrangements would be negotiated to prevent Bases residents and employees from being excluded from EU benefits.

Chief European Commission Negotiator for Cyprus, Leopold Maurer, pointed out on Wednesday that unless special arrangements were made, SBA boundaries would become external borders once Cyprus becomes a full member of the EU.

He visited the bases yesterday to discuss the technical aspects of the issue with the British authorities.

Speaking at news conference yesterday afternoon, Maurer said his team had looked at how the system worked and what would happen when Cyprus becomes a member of the EU.

He said they had looked at the tax and customs system in the SBA because the EU was concerned that there would not be a "leakage" of untaxed goods from the SBA to the Republic.

He added that the SBAs were excluded from the acquis communautaire and that the Shengen agreement would probably only be implemented in the Republic.

Maurer said he did not expect any problems with the SBA after accession, adding that there must be common understanding between the two sides.

Cyprus' Chief EU Negotiator George Vassiliou sought to dispel any doubts concerning future relations with the SBAs, saying things would continue as they were now.

He said co-operation between the two sides would be stronger in some areas - handling of illegal immigrants - but the daily life of those living within the bases would not be affected.

Diplomatic talks on the matter will begin shortly between London and Nicosia. Cassoulides said the talks would not challenge the substance of the Treaty of Guarantee.

Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou promised that all Cyprus residents working on the Bases would become members of the European Union, reiterating the two possible solutions.

He said Maurer was in Cyprus precisely to sort this out. The Chief Negotiator is leaving today.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Work needs to pick up pace to close remaining EU chapters

CHIEF European Commission Negotiator for Cyprus Leopold Maurer yesterday said he was satisfied with the island's progress towards harmonisation, even though improvement was needed in some areas.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday afternoon, Maurer summed up the results of his talks concerning the island's EU accession course.

"We had discussions in different fields.

"First of all concerning the accession negotiations, where we had to prepare the chapters to be negotiated under the Belgian presidency during the next six months," Maurer said.

Cyprus has completed 22 out of the 29 chapters necessary for accession.

The seven remaining chapters include environment, taxation and competition, regional policy and financial and budgetary provisions.

"The chapters should be finalised under the Spanish presidency next year," Maurer said.

The EU official said the chapter for the environment was expected to close next month, while implementation of the acquis communautaire, according to EU experts accompanying Maurer, was running smoothly.

However, Maurer said work on some fields needed to pick up.

"Of course in some fields one has to catch up, but in general you are moving forward quite well," he said.

He said he had had fruitful discussions on taxation, which is one of the most difficult chapters.

"We demand a timetable and the main issue is that Cyprus has to prepare its position of how to conform with the acquis in taxation," he said.

He said the chapter on taxation had to be finalised by the end of the year and that Cyprus should move with "supersonic speed" to align itself with the acquis in this domain.

"Changes should be carried out in the next months," Maurer said.

On Wednesday, Maurer warned that time for Nicosia to solve the tax conundrum was running "very, very, short".

Cyprus must end what the EU calls unfair tax practices, and must adopt a full range of indirect tax regulations, including raising VAT to 15 per cent.

Preferential tax rates must also be abolished, leading to fears that this could lead to an exodus of lucrative offshore business.

Currently taxed at 4.25 per cent - compared to a 20-25 per cent for domestic firms - international companies are the second biggest contributor to GDP after tourism.

(See also editorial)

[08] High Commission's video message to British tourists: don't bring drugs

THE BRITISH High Commission, concerned by a growing number of tourists arrested for drug possession, has created an information video to show the consequences of Cyprus' no-tolerance policy.

So far this year, police on the island have confiscated triple the number of ecstasy tablets as in the whole of 2000, and it was this increase that spurred the High Commission to action.

"We came to a realisation that naive, inexperienced young travellers from the UK seem to be under the erroneous impression that Cyprus authorities deal leniently with possession of recreational drugs," High Commission spokesman Peter Boxer told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

The message, he says, is simply, "don't bring drugs to Cyprus".

The 45-second video is intended for use on tour buses en route from the airport to hotels, and possibly on airplanes, although there has been no mention of showing it to travellers before they actually leave for Cyprus.

It shows a Cypriot policeman arriving to arrest a hip British couple just as they are about to take two ecstasy pills.

"It gives all the pictures of Cyprus as a wonderful, sunny place and a great place to come on holiday, great fun, all that, lovely beaches, but then it deteriorates at the end when somebody ruins their lovely holiday by a couple a E's," Boxer explained.

An original version of the video met with disapproval from Cypriot authorities and the High Commission agreed to change the message slightly, said the spokesman.

Several government Ministers and other high-ranking officials have now scrutinised it and, according to Boxer, are satisfied with the changes.

"What we don't want to do is scare anybody away from Cyprus," he said. "We don't want to give the impression of it being a kind of police state. What we want to do is remind young people that drugs are dealt with in a very serious manner here.

"The Cyprus authorities have a zero tolerance policy and we have no argument with that at all. but we think it is our duty to inform these young travellers of the dangers of coming out here and brining drugs to the island and the severity with which the Cyprus authorities will deal with them," he added.

Officials from the Justice Ministry and the police were unavailable for comment yesterday. Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis declined to comment on any details of the video, other than to say that he had participated in initial discussions with the High Commission and government Ministers.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] UN: we don't need authorisation from Denktash to land our helicopters

THE UN said yesterday that there was no such thing as ban on UNFICYP helicopters landing in the north, as troops did not need Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's permission to move around the island freely.

The statement questioned the validity of Turkish Cypriot press reports claiming yesterday that Denktash had banned UN troops from landing in the north by helicopter.

The alleged ban was said to hit back against "the one-sided resolutions of the United Nations Security Council" in the renewal of the UNFICYP mandate for another six months on June 15.

On the recommendation of UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan, resolution 1354 made no concessions to Turkish demands for a separate agreement for the peacekeepers to operate in the occupied areas.

When the mandate was renewed last June without an addendum to please Denktash, Turkish troops advanced at Strovilia in the Famagusta area and the north restricted the movement of UNFICYP personnel in the occupied areas.

The Security Council has urged the north to restore the military status quo at Strovilia and end the restrictions on its personnel.

The Turkish Cypriot papers yesterday heralded the helicopter ban as the latest retaliatory measure.

But UN spokesman Brian Kelly yesterday told the Cyprus Mail there was no such thing as a refusal, because UNFICYP did not need permission to move freely around the island.

He added that the UN had not been in contact with the Turkish Cypriot authorities on this matter.

According to media sources, Austrian and Slovakian contingents were allegedly refused permission to land in a helicopter to attend an unspecified event.

Kelly said UN helicopters landed between four and six times a week at their bases in Famagusta and Kokkina.

Under-secretary at the Turkish Cypriot 'foreign ministry', Osman Ergu, was yesterday unable to comment on the matter.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[10] Clerides leaves clinic in 'excellent' shape

PRESIDENT Glafcos Clerides is in a top shape, his doctors said yesterday as the 82-year-old left the Evangelistria Clinic at the end of two of standard tests, one year after undergoing an operation to remove a malignant polyp from his large intestine.

The President was admitted to the clinic for routine tests on Tuesday and was discharged at lunchtime yesterday.

"I went in feeling healthy and I am going out feeling even healthier," said Clerides in an upbeat mood on his departure from the clinic.

"My doctors did not do me any special favours. I had jelly and watery soup for lunch and for dinner as well. But now, thank God, I am going to have a proper lunch, homemade pasta!" Clerides said in relief.

Clerides had requested to be allowed to have loukoumades, a traditional syrupy sweet.

"I will have that after lunch," he said.

Clerides' doctors, Akis Syrimis, George Pavlides and Iosif Kasios confirmed yesterday that the President's health was "excellent. "

Clerides had a colonoscopy yesterday morning where his intestine was examined inch by inch.

"His intestine was clear, we didn't even have to take a sample for further tests," Dr Kasios said.

"The President is in a very good shape and in a very good mood. And yes we are keeping our promise about loukoumades," he added.

Clerides though was slightly put out by his doctors' insistence that he swim an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon rather than two hours in one go.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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