Nicosia, Cyprus. Proceedings against Turkish Cypriot activist Oz Karahan and former Sigma TV journalist Giorgos Tattis were adjourned on Tuesday after three prosecution witnesses failed to appear before Nicosia district court.
Witnesses absent
Defence lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou said the missing witnesses were police officers listed to testify and that the prosecution authority gave no explanation for their absence. The case was rescheduled for November 16.
Lawyer criticises delays
After the hearing, Efstathiou criticised repeated delays in the proceedings, saying the absence of prosecution witnesses was creating significant difficulties for the progress of the case. He also said a request submitted to the attorney-general a year ago seeking a stay of the criminal prosecution remained unanswered.
“For a year and a half now, my clients have been dragged through the courts,” he said. “Their crime was not violence, not incitement to hatred, but the hanging of a banner and the public expression of a political position.”
Reaction from Karahan and Tattis
Karahan and Tattis also said the latest postponement was causing ongoing hardship. In a joint statement, they questioned why they were required to organise their lives around court appearances while prosecution witnesses could fail to attend without apparent consequences.
“Once again, we are deeply concerned by the continued postponement of the trial of our case,” they said, adding that the absent witnesses were understood to be the police officers involved in their arrests.