AYKUT DENIES ALL ACCUSATIONS
Israeli contractor Simon Aykut, who was arrested in early June and accused of illegally developing and selling 43 million euros worth of property in Greek Cypriot territory in the north of Cyprus, denied all 242 charges against him at the Nicosia Criminal Court on Thursday. Appearing before the judge in court, Aykut answered "no" to all the charges against him.
During the trial, prosecutor Andreas Aristides read the indictment for 50 minutes, detailing the charges against Aykut. Aykut faces many serious charges, including illegal real estate transactions, unauthorized possession and use of property, laundering illegally obtained income, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The properties in question in these cases, each of which has different values, are reported to have market values ranging from 100,000 euros to 2 million euros.
AYKUT'S LAWYER: WE WILL APPLY TO THE ECHR
Aykut's lawyer Maria Neophytou stated that her client intended to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and that they questioned the jurisdiction of the court conducting the trial, and requested a 40-day postponement. However, the prosecutor's office opposed this request, emphasizing that any new developments in the process of the case could be considered separately.
Presiding Judge Christiana Parpota rejected the lawyer's request and ruled that the hearing would continue at 09:00 on March 26.
PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE: HEALTH STATUS IS GOOD
The defense argued that Aykut should not remain in custody due to his health condition, stating that his client had been diagnosed with cancer by a British specialist. However, prosecutor Aristides said that Aykut had been examined and that according to the specialist, no definitive cancer diagnosis had been made, however, Aykut had been prescribed medication for another illness. The prosecutor argued that Aykut should remain in custody.
In addition, the prosecutor's office reported that according to the evaluation made by the central prison doctor, Aykut's general health condition was determined to be good, but that the doctor in question was unable to attend the court to testify due to his illness.
THE COURT WILL DECIDE ON DETENTION TODAY
The court ordered the doctors to return on Friday to testify in order to clarify the situation regarding his health condition.
The court will decide whether Aykut will remain in custody until March 26 after the evaluation of the statements to be taken from the doctors.
