Turkish Cypriot tells court how he was beaten in cafe?

[brother]

Turkish Cypriot tells court how he was beaten in cafe?
By John Leonidou


THE NICOSIA Assizes yesterday heard the account of Turkish Cypriot Sadik Aktan, the man who claims that he was attacked by Christodoulos Nicolaides at a Nicosia caf? on July 29 this year.

Aktan and Greek Cypriot Maranos Kleanthous were allegedly attacked and beaten by Nicolaides and a group of his friends, believed by police to be linked to the ultra-nationalist party Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn). Despite Aktan maintaining his initial statement that he was attacked by Nicolaides, Kleanthous later withdrew his complaint and told the court that he did not see Nicolaides during the attack.

“The accused wasn’t close enough for me to see if he was involved in the fight. I didn’t see anyone attack Sadik.”

Prosecution lawyer Marios Koutsoftas asked Kleanthous, “Did you see the accused attack anyone?”

“No,” he replied. “The incident happened very quickly and only lasted a few seconds.”
The prosecution then called up Constable Antonis Moustakkas, who told the court that because he could speak and write Turkish, he took down the statement from Aktan in Turkish.

He added that he did not see any marks on Aktan’s body.

“I accompanied another officer to the scene of the incident after the allegation was made to us. The policewoman interviewed the owner of the caf?.”

The prosecution’s key witness Sadik Aktan was then called up to testify with the help of a translator.

Aktan was first asked to read out the statement he had given to the police in which he stated that he was a Turkish Cypriot who for the last three months had been working for a private company in the free areas of Nicosia.

“I went to the caf? at around 7pm with some friends and we sat down at a table and spoke in English to each other. Sitting at the table behind us was a younger, darker man, who looked about 25, and who had a tattoo on his body. At one point, the man came up to our table and speaking in Greek he asked us why we were speaking in English. My friends at the table began speaking to him in Greek and I couldn’t understand because my Greek is very little. I believe that he asked ‘what I was’.

“Maranos then told the man that I was a Cypriot to which he again responded ‘what kind of Cypriot’. Maranos told him that I was a Turkish Cypriot and then the man punched me while I was sitting in my chair. Five more men from the table where my attacker was sitting came over and I believe I understood Maranos say to them ‘what are you doing?’ although I can’t be certain of this. Three people then pushed and attacked Maranos. These men then again attacked me and Maranos outside with Maranos continuously punched and kicked by the men. The men then went back inside the caf? and we went straight to the police station.”

Koutsoftas then asked him, “Do you know who attacked you?”

“Yes,” replied Aktan. “It was the accused.”

Aktan went on to tell the court how he had been punched on the back of the head and his right ear. He added that his ear had gone red from the battering that he had sustained.
“I was very shocked by what had happened. Since that day I have not been out alone except for when I go to work. Although the relationship with my current friends from work hasn’t changed, new people that I meet are now more sceptical of me because of what has happened. We are referred to us as Turkish Cypriots but we are Cypriots.”
Koutsaftis then asked how exactly he was hit to which Aktan replied that he been dealt severe slaps as opposed to clenched fist punches.

“They were hard slaps and I cannot remember feeling any pain other than the pain in my ear.”

Defence lawyer Sotiris Charalambous then took the stand and questioned Aktan’s opinion on the relationship between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

“If we are all Cypriot as you say we are then could you please tell me in which stand were you sitting during the recent football match between Anorthosis and Trabzonspor in Nicosia. Were you sitting with the Turks or with the Cypriots?”

“I wasn’t at the game”, responded Aktan.

“Did you know that Turkish Cypriots went and sat on one stand shouting slogans at the Cypriots?” asked Charalambous.

His reaction prompted a response from Koutsoftas, who objected to the line of questioning, while the judge reminded Charalambous to keep his questions within the frame of the case.

Charalambous continued, “You say that you do not feel as safe anymore when you go out alone. When you cross over the checkpoints or you are at work, do you have a bodyguard with you?”

“No”, answered Aktan.

“Do you know how many tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots cross over into the free areas every day to go to work?” asked Charalambous.

“I do not know the exact number”, Aktan again responded.

There was another objection towards the end of the day’s proceedings from the prosecution when Charalambous paused half way through his next question.
“Do you as a Turk….”

“Turk or Turkish Cypriot?” asked the judge.

“What is the difference?” replied Charalambous.

“I object to this your honour?” responded Koutsoftos before the judge called on both lawyers to calm down, while cautioning Charalambous to be more careful when addressing the witness.

The trial resumes tomorrow.


I find the way of questioning most distasteful especially this comment upset me:

[erolz]

[Bananiot]

The lawyer is a jerk. Until recently he was the chief of police and I remember seeing him on numerous occasions on tv with his air-dried beetle look hair making him look a real twit.

[brother]

[Kifeas]

[gabs]

Kifeas


he slept his way up?

please tell us more.


personally i think this case is one of those that can happen anywhere at anytime to anyone, and i dont apportion any blame to the Greek Cypriot community for this. im sure the vast majority Greek Cypriots are also seriously opposed to this type of thuggery.

[Bananiot]

Lets see the facts then. Sotiris Charalambous was one of the four deputy heads of the police and after retiring he became a lawyer because he finished a law school in Greece. He won a high court appeal during the Klerides government and this is what gave him the position he held in the police. He was quite outspoken during his stay in this position and he is best remembered for an essay he wrote on drugs which admittedly was good and way beyond the conventional wisdom at the time.

His political affiliations now. He was very close to AKEL and worked very hard for the candidacy of Iacovou when he stood (and lost) against Klerides. EDI did not support Iacovou but Klerides during the 1998 elections.

As a lawyer he is probably very meagre and of course he has a tough job appearing for the fascist member of "Chrysi Avgi". The line of defense he chose is plain ridiculous and hopefully he will not succeed to clear his customer.

These are the facts and anyone that says different needs to substantiate his claims with solid evidence.

[Birkibrisli]

If as I read in the forums upto 10,000 Turkish Cypriots cross over to the South for work every day,and if this is only one isolated incident,I'd say there is hope for Cyprus yet,brothers and sisters.
But what is this" Golden Dawn" that is creeping up in some threads?
Is it a new secret organisation along the lines of Eoka B?Do we have to worry about it seriously,what say you brothers Kifeas and Bananiot?

[erolz]

[Kifeas]

[Bananiot]

IN THE DOCK AGAIN

‘He came up to me, swore, spat in my face and then attacked us’

By John Leonidou

A TURKISH Cypriot father and son claiming that they were attacked by Christodoulos Nicolaides in Troodos last March yesterday gave the Nicosia Assizes a detailed account of their ordeal.

Veysel Toksoy and his son Kemal are claiming that Nicolaides abused, spat and attacked them at a fountain in Troodos after the two men had stopped to eat their sandwiches on the way back to Nicosia after a day trip. Kemal’s wife, mother and two children were also in the car.

Veysel Toksoy had made a statement to police on the day of the attack in Astromeritis and then made a second statement to police in Agios Dometios, around a month later.

Nicolaides, a former policeman, is currently facing a total of eight charges, which include causing actual bodily harm, assault and acting with intent to incite hostility between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The 28-year-old is also charged with the attack of another Turkish Cypriot, Sadik Aktan, in a Nicosia cafe on July 25 this year.

Prosecution lawyer Marios Koutsoftas first called up Sergeant Giorgos Giorgiou of Astromeritis police. Giorgiou said Toksoy had come into the police station and told him that he and his family had been abused and attacked by a young man aged between 25 and 30.
“Did you see any marks on his body,” asked Koutsoftas.

“Yes,” replied Giorgiou. “He showed me his right ear and I saw that it was red.”

Koutsoftas then called up Sergeant Sotiris Charalambous, formerly of the Ayios Dometios police, who had also taken a statement from Veysel and Kemal in Turkish about a month after the incident, before Sergeant Marios Cleanthous of Troodos police took the stand.

Cleanthous read out what the defendant had told him, that he had left his father’s house in Troodos and was heading back to Nicosia.

“On the way back I stopped at a fountain because there was a rubbish skip and I needed to get rid of some rubbish from my father’s house. At the fountain were some people who were staring at me provocatively.

“At one point, one of them said to me ‘ti einai re gaour’ (what it is you infidel). I told them to get into their car and leave, and then one of them pushed me and told me to leave, just like my family was told to leave in 1974.

“Being a refugee, I was obviously very angry but I restrained myself and just left.”

Cleathous added: “The accused then told me that he didn’t admit the charges and that he didn’t do anything to them, after I had read him his rights and informed him of the charges.”

Veysel himself then took the stand, with the aid of a translator, and read his statement telling the court that on the day in question he was traveling back from Troodos with his family after a day trip and had stopped at a fountain on the side of the road.

“At one point a jeep that drove by stopped, turned around and came to where we were sitting. A young man took some garbage out of his car, dumped the garbage in a skip and then came up to me. He then came up to me and, understanding a little Greek, said to me ‘I f*** your mother’. After that he spat on my face and on my glasses. As I went to go and wash my glasses in the fountain, I suddenly heard shouting in Greek.

“I then saw the man walk towards the car and begin punching Kemal before dragging him out of his car and attacking him again. I rushed over to them and pulled Kemal away. As I pulled him away, the man hit me in the ear from behind. Then he told us to leave which we did. We drove straight to the police station in Astromeritis.”

“Do you see your attacker today in the courtroom,” asked Koutsoftas.

“Yes, it is the man sitting over there,” said Veysel referring to Nicolaides who was sitting in the dock.

Veysel said he was bleeding from his ear where the attacker had struck him and from nose because of the way his glasses had suddenly come off from being struck.

“How did you feel after the attack”, asked Koutsoftas

“It is hard to describe how I felt. I suppose we just bumped into the wrong person that day. Why did he attack us?” said Veysel, shaking his head, his arms outstretched.

Defence lawyer Soteris Charalambous then questioned Veysel and immediately asked him why he had initially not wanted to press charges but then changed his mind. Veysel replied that not once had he not wanted to press charges.

“The police in Astromeritis took my contact details and after visiting the hospital for my injuries went back home. But they never contacted me and after a month and a half I went to the police station in Ayios Dometios via the United Nations and gave the second statement. There, I pressed charges again.”

“How long did the attack in Troodos go on for and have you seen the attacker since that day?” asked Charalambous.

“The attack went on for about 15 to 20 minutes and I have only seen the attacker for the first time today since that incident,” replied Veysel.

“But how can you remember his face after so many months?” asked Charalambous.

“I’ll remember his face 30 years from now, not just months from now. Believe me, you do not forget an incident like that,” Veysel replied.

The prosecution then called up Veysel’s son Kemal who gave the same account of what had happened that day, adding that at present he would not allow his wife and children to return to the free areas. Kemal then pointed at the accused when asked who had attacked him and his father.

“My wife and children were crying after the incident and we were all deeply disturbed and shocked by what had happened. I have never experienced anything like that in my life. Only time will tell if we will one day come back to the south.”

Charalambous then questioned Kemal about his reaction to the attack.

“So if you were to be attacked in the occupied areas in the same way, would you pack up your stuff and move back to Turkey with your family?”

“No,” Kemal answered.

“Do you know what ‘gaour’ means and what kind of an insult it means to somebody who is Greek?” asked Charalambous.

“No,” replied Kemal. “I have never heard that word.”

Both Kemal and Veysel denied provoking Nicolaides in any way.

The trial resumes on Monday.

[brother]

It seems that this coward only attacks vunerable people but not real men, maybe he should cross over to the north where i will meet him and show him how i can hit back and swell ears, mouths and faces aswell, the one thing i can assure you off is when i finish with him he will need months to recover, nasty f***ing racist coward.

[cannedmoose]

[brother]

[Bananiot]

I'd be glad to lend you a hand brother, then let him rot in prison, just to satisfy moose.