Five people were on Tuesday found guilty for the death of Turkish Cypriot Tansu Cidan, who died in the central prison in 2022.
The five included two of his fellow inmates and three prison guards, with fellow inmate Veyzi Bandur being found guilty of premeditated murder after testimonies showed that he had “repeatedly and for a long time” beaten Cidan on the day before he was murdered and on the day of the murder.
He and another fellow inmate, Mohammadian Reza, were also found guilty of the possession and supply of illegal drugs.
Two of the three prison guards, Giorgos Kyriakides and Savvas Christou, were found guilty of manslaughter, with the court finding that they caused Cidan’s death “through unlawful omission”.
The court found that they had “failed to conduct adequate inspections, provide safeguarding, take protective measures, provide medical care, or prevent danger to [Cidan’s] life”.
Kyriakides, Christou and fellow prison guard Stelios Georgiou were all found guilty of causing death through a reckless and thoughtless act, due to their failure to take protective measures. All three were also found guilty of a neglect of duty.
Two other defendants, Kaya Derga and Abdulkarim Abdulkarim, had already pleaded guilty to previous charges and were on Tuesday acting as prosecution witnesses.
More to follow…