Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

‘Paphos court refused to accept that I was stuck in the north’
By Stefanos Evripidou
A TURKISH Cypriot motorist fined €500 for not paying a speeding ticket on time has accused a Paphos judge of failing to accept the realities of the island’s occupation.

Kufi Birinci, 52, originally from Ayios Nicolaos in Paphos went before a Paphos court last Monday, shocked to find that the €60 speeding ticket he had failed to pay had turned into a €500 fine. According to Birinci, the judge refused to accept the fact that the 52-year-old had missed his last court date because the occupation forces in the north had withheld his travel documents, preventing him from leaving.

“The judge said ‘this is no excuse’. What does he mean? I live under occupation. Greek Cypriots have never lived under occupation, they don’t know what it means,” he said.

Birinci lives in the north but has been travelling back to his village in Paphos on a frequent basis for the last three decades. “I’ve been going back since 1979, going through Pergamos and Pyla and getting into trouble for it, way before the checkpoints opened,” he told the Cyprus Mail.

A while ago, he was stopped for speeding and received a €60 fine which he failed to pay on time. When he failed to meet the second deadline for payment, a court date was set for the traffic offence.

However, Birinci was unable to attend due to the fact that he had been arrested by Turkish Cypriot authorities trying to cross from the north to the government-controlled areas with €70,000. The maximum allowed to be taken out of the occupied areas in cash is €10,000. As a result, Birinci’s travel documents were confiscated while a court case was pending in the north.

“I don’t see what the problem is. I see Cyprus as one island. I left my shop with the money and was going to my village in Paphos. What right did they have to prevent me?” he said.

Birinci was not allowed to leave the north during his case regarding the €70,000, which led him to miss the court hearing in Paphos for the unpaid ticket. On November 20, he was finally able to leave and tried to cross over.

“The (Greek Cypriot) police told me they had orders to arrest me because I didn’t show up in court. I explained the situation to them and they let me go, telling me to go to court immediately.”

Last Monday, Birinci made his way to the Paphos court, once there police officers who were friends of his warned him that he would be arrested if the case was not heard that day.

“I called up some friends in Nicosia to make sure the papers for my case got to court in time,” said the 52-year-old.

The papers arrived and the case was finally heard on the same day. The judge asked if Birinci needed a translator, but he declined as he speaks Greek. “But the stenographer had a problem with my Greek and wouldn’t accept. She also had a problem with an Arab guy before me who spoke good Greek. I don’t know why, they’ve accepted me before when I spoke Greek as a witness in the Nicosia court,” he said.

“The judge ordered my arrest until they could get an interpreter, but Turkish is an official language of the Republic anyway, they should have had someone available,” he added.

In an effort to avoid the cell, Birinci offered to conduct the hearing in English. “When the judge asked why I had missed court some weeks ago, I explained to him what had happened. But he said: ‘I do not accept what you said as being a serious reason for not coming to court,’ said the man from Ayios Nicolaos.

“I felt like saying to him, ‘does this mean there is no occupation?’ but I was scared to because there were people opposite me who could arrest me. He didn’t treat me well from the beginning. Everybody else he charged €250-€300 for the same traffic offences, and me, he charged €500,” he added.

The judge reportedly cited the number of road accidents in Cyprus as a result of speeding and the need to increase penalties, as well as the fact that he had missed a court date as reasons for the €500 penalty.

“I wouldn’t have minded if he hadn’t said ‘I don’t accept your reasons’, but he did and this means there is no occupation,” said the 52-year-old.

As Birinci left the court, he saw a Greek Cypriot man with one arm handcuffed to a bench. “I asked him what happened and he said he didn’t have the money to pay for his fine so they handcuffed him until his brother could bring it. You don’t even see this in the occupied areas. He is not a killer, just a traffic violator,” said Birinci.

A source within Traffic Police headquarters in Nicosia told the Cyprus Mail that it was not common for speeding offences to end up in court as most people pay them in time. “But the court has the power in such cases to impose a fine of up to €1,708 and/or a one-year jail sentence,” said the police officer.

“The sentence is neither illegal nor illogical. The court has the power to do this. It is not my place to get into the reasoning of the judge on why he missed his court hearing,” he added.

Asked to comment on the man handcuffed to the bench for a traffic offence, the source said: “The court had probably issued an arrest warrant and ordered the policeman in court to arrest him until he paid his fine. It’s not illogical.”




Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

[Raymanoff]

If i was Christofias i would just close down Cyprus Mail by withdrawing their license... they are full of shit biased motherfuckers... i don't even read them anymore. God damn it, what a primitive case and how skillfully it was turned into a political scandal potential.... But on he other hand, court doesn't recognize north authorities so his arrest there was not a legal excuse to not attend in court...

[Expatkiwi]

Seems that the court system - or at least that judge - lacks both inteeligence and integrity... and certain persons on this forum accuse ME of this!

[Expatkiwi]

If i was Christofias i would just close down Cyprus Mail by withdrawing their license... they are full of shit biased motherfuckers... i don't even read them anymore. God damn it, what a primitive case and how skillfully it was turned into a political scandal potential.... But on he other hand, court doesn't recognize north authorities so his arrest there was not a legal excuse to not attend in court...

"not a legal excuse to not attend in court..." You realize how pathetic that sounds? And people wonder why I don't place any credence in the RoCy authorities.

[Raymanoff]

"pathetic" is not a term used in courts my friend.... ROC recognizes all island of Cyprus as its jurisdiction, thank you very much. You are lucky i am still not drunk enough to tell you where to go.

[YFred]

If i was Christofias i would just close down Cyprus Mail by withdrawing their license... they are full of shit biased motherfuckers... i don't even read them anymore. God damn it, what a primitive case and how skillfully it was turned into a political scandal potential.... But on he other hand, court doesn't recognize north authorities so his arrest there was not a legal excuse to not attend in court...

I guess it proves two things. The twisted Russian logic and intolerance of the roc justice system. No one creates scandal in the media; the roc is very capable of doing it by themselves.
roc indeed, it will eventually dig its own grave.

[Raymanoff]

Yfred, i will ignore yet another Russian Stereotype outburst,... in any case every time i read that you loose my respect to you because you cant awknolege the fact that i havent been in that country for 52% of my life.... fair enuf, i judge TCs ans Turks as combined public entity parasiting this island.

I will laugh at your face when this cheap story get to a wider public... if it ever will. because Cyprus Mail Auditory is mostly based in Pegia, Pissouri, Episkopi and Deckhelia....

I must remind you once again, that ROC jurisdiction applies to the whole island... and that idiot's excuse would be equal to mine which in my case would sound like this "Judge, please forgive me... i was attacked by an army of cockroaches last night and it was very scary... they held me to my bed whilst another army of cockroaches was emptying my kitchen supplies"

are you for real??? Your country is as legitimate to me as a fucking LEGOLAND...

[Raymanoff]

OK, i admit one thing... the court should have accepted Defendants testimony in Turkish... as much as i hate it, its the official Language of ROC.

[YFred]

Yfred, i will ignore yet another Russian Stereotype outburst,... in any case every time i read that you loose my respect to you because you cant awknolege the fact that i havent been in that country for 52% of my life.... fair enuf, i judge TCs ans Turks as combined public entity parasiting this island.

I will laugh at your face when this cheap story get to a wider public... if it ever will. because Cyprus Mail Auditory is mostly based in Pegia, Pissouri, Episkopi and Deckhelia....

I must remind you once again, that ROC jurisdiction applies to the whole island... and that idiot's excuse would be equal to mine which in my case would sound like this "Judge, please forgive me... i was attacked by an army of cockroaches last night and it was very scary... they held me to my bed whilst another army of cockroaches was emptying my kitchen supplies"

are you for real??? Your country is as legitimate to me as a fucking LEGOLAND...

So you have a sensitive side too. Never mind.

Legitimacy is never granted it is won
Normally at the end of the barrel of a gun
But this one will be different
It will be legally and legitimately done.

The judges can continue to do the work for the TRNC. It will make it easier in the end. The world is watching and listening. There will be a TRNC either part of roc, part of Turkey or on its own. TCs will determine that.
He who struggles and does not stop till he gets there will win in the end, when he has moral right, no need for international corrupt laws.

[B25]

Occupation, what occupation????

We are told by Venomous person VP, Yjocks, Insane, Zannie boy, runaway, pauuuuuul, and a few others that the live a wonderful free glorious life in the north.

Now it's an occupation, well at least you admit that much, we have been telling you that for 36 years FFS.

Also, this poor little innocent fella was hording large sums of money breaking his own illegal regimes puppet rules and now he is innocent FFS??

Come on, make up your minds, not when it just suits you.

As for the Kiwi FAKE, a turk in disguise, piss off and mind your own.

They should have just chucked the MotherF in the slammer and threw away the key.

What a sob story, full of shit, Cyprus Mail is a pile of crap anyway.