Following the arrest of Turkish Cypriot lawyer in the north, the Bar Associations paid visits to the “general police directorate” and to the “presidency” of the “supreme court”. During these visits, both verbally and in writing, the lawyers conveyed complaints and demands regarding the fact that lawyer Murat Metin Hakkı had been handcuffed. But they went to the wrong address. They should have gone to the “commander” of the Turkish “security forces” and not to the “general police directorate.” Because that's where the “police” take orders from. Everyone knows this fact, don’t our lawyers?
Take the example of the detention of the five Greek Cypriots. Who arrested them? A resident of the well-known settlement. He said he was disturbed by the visit of the Greek Cypriots. He informed the boss of a large construction company. And that person informed the military “commander.” In other words, he did not inform the “police” but the military “commander.” And the military commander immediately activated the “police.” The first to make the initial notification in the settlement is a former chairman of the chamber of commerce. He is left-wing, not right-wing! And he is the prosecution’s witness in the trial of the five Greek Cypriots currently ongoing in Trikomo.
So this is the procedure dear lawyers. But if you absolutely want to follow hierarchy or the law, then your address should have been the “prime minister.” Because in essence, it is the “prime ministry” that the “security forces,” which command the “police,” fall under. What did you say? Only on paper? If that piece of paper is of no use, then tear it up and throw it away!
One of the five detained Greek Cypriots, Andreas, is ill. Very ill. He can neither sit nor stand. He suffers. The “judge” at the “military court” twice referred the patient to a “fully equipped” hospital. The first time, the “police” took him to the “general” hospital. They didn’t examine the part where he was in pain; they carried out other tests. The “judge” gave the order a second time. Again, they took him to the hospital. The doctor prescribed antibiotics. However, the “prison” administration could not provide the medicine to the sick man for three days. Why? Because those antibiotics, they said, were not available at the “general” hospital. And the pharmacies with which they had contracts were closed. In other words: if you are going to die, die! There is also a patients’ rights association here. Did it not take any interest at all?
Everyone was upset about the handcuffs. But about the handcuffs on the lawyer, not on the Greek Cypriots. Yet they should also have been upset about the handcuffs on the Greek Cypriots. They drag them from “court” to “court.” And on top of that, handcuffed? We understood, handcuffs cannot be put on lawyers. Do you realize how you have wounded our conscience for fifty days now?
So, we have failed this test too. Our political parties, organizations, and unions are very insensitive, all of them, except for a few. But no reaction at all. They didn’t say anything, not even about the “district court’s” decision that they should be “tried” while under detention. Yet, look: it turns out that this “court’s” decision was wrong. The “supreme court” overturned the detention order. It found the decision wrong. Let that be an example to all of you. Do not be afraid to criticize the “court’s” decisions. “Judges” are human too. They can also make mistakes.
Bail was imposed on the Greek Cypriot detainees in the case of “violating a forbidden military zone.” But again they were not released. Because the “trial” for “trespassing” is still ongoing “at the court” in Trikomo. In 1974 they were young. They were not captured then. They were taken prisoners 51 years later!