ECHR rules on cross-border case

A EUROPEAN Court of Human Rights final appeal court decision on the 2005 cross-border murder of three members of the Güzelyurtlu family could pave the way for the return of suspects in the 2017 Ayia Napa murder of George Low. This was the view of former TRNC attorney-general Hakkı Önen, who said that he believed the expected judgment of the March 2018 ECHR Grand Chamber session on the Article 2 Right to Life case, first heard in 2007, could prove binding in Cyprus.

The Turkish Cypriot co-head of the Bicommunal Technical Committee on Crime and Criminal Matters in Cyprus also criticised the previous government’s decision not to hand over the two Lefkoşa-based suspects in the Low case as “a missed opportunity” in cross-border crime-fighting.

He added: “This purely political decision over the death of a fellow human being has caused me much pain.

“A small number of returns are also essential for goodwill and the former prime minister and interior minister’s example will merely encourage the other side to do the same.”

Four TRNC prison escapees were returned from South Cyprus around nine months ago and these informal returns should be governed by a permanent protocol unaffected by politics or settlement talks, he added.

Suspects in the triple murder of businessman Elmas Güzelyurtlu, his wife and 15year-old daughter, found shot dead in and near their car on the South’s Larnaca motorway, were never handed over from North Cyprus while evidence remained in Greek Cypriot hands.

An initial ECHR judgment in the case had criticised Turkey and South Cyprus and the impending verdict could clarify jurisdiction, said Mr Önen, as had the ECHR rejection of a Greek Cypriot appeal against the Immovable Properties Commission.

He said that while his joint committee of 10 worked to prevent crime, lack of cross-border cooperation on extradition was leaving criminals undeterred. Nonetheless, he and his cohead, Professor Andreas Kapardis, witnessed daily non-political intelligence- and information-sharing by their police sub-committee in the Joint Contact Room.

The technical committee building hosted two police officers from each side and two people to man phones outside working hours. Near-border events were notified immediately by phone with a request to look out for suspects and sub-committee meetings were held a minimum three to four times a week. A rash of car thefts had largely been stopped, leaving mainly burglaries or drug-related crimes, and preventative seminars were also planned on drug and internet addiction rehabilitation.

Mr Önen added that he was not just concerned with Turkish and Greek Cypriots but also with crimes involving foreigners, humanitarian cases and human trafficking.