Israeli to remain in custody until trial

Citing the risk of absconding, a court decided on Wednesday that Turkish-Israeli businessman Simon Aykut will be held until his trial and dismissed a request by his lawyers that he be released on bail.

Aykut, 73, who will remain in custody at the central prisons, is being tried for developing on over €43 million worth of Greek Cypriot land in the north through his company Duminka, part of the Afik group.

The judge said the court was satisfied the suspect was involved in the offences he has been charged with and may be condemned.

Regarding the risk of absconding, it said the only element connecting him to Cyprus was a house in Larnaca, however the accused was not Cypriot and did not reside in the south.

Furthermore, he holds passports of three other countries and due to his ties with the north may abscond.

Aykut was born in Izmir, lived in Israel and holds Israeli, Portuguese and Turkish passports, while he resides in the occupied village of Trikomo.

The court also took into account the health issues of the accused, which did not reduce the risk of his trying to flee.

Aykut will appear before the criminal court on September 27, to answer the 244 charges against him, the most serious being money laundering.

During a hearing on Tuesday, the court heard from prosecutor Vassilis Bissas that based on testimony he needs to remain in custody until the trial is complete.

The prosecution had referred to Aykut as the “big boss” of Duminka.

The defence said the 73-year-old is willing to post a €1 million bond, and showed documents from the north showing the directors of Duminka are Aykut’s two sons.