Greek Cypriot accused of spying in north charged, but not released

A Greek Cypriot bicommunal activist who has been held in the north for more than 20 days as Turkish Cypriot authorities contemplated charging him with espionage, was on Wednesday issued a warning from the court and a suspended fine for one charge.

Andreas Soudjis was fined 30,000 TL (around €1,640) by a court in Trikomo for possession of a radio or walkie-talkie without a licence. The fine will only have to be paid if he commits the same offence again.

However, Soudjis will continue to be detained in relation to charges of possessing photos of military areas, reports from the north said.

He is due back in court Thursday morning to answer these charges.

Soudjis was arrested coming back from the north through the Pergamos crossing on September 1 on suspicion of espionage as he had been using the walkie-talkie to stay in communication with friends due to problems experienced using mobiles registered in the Republic while in the north.

Unauthorised use of walkie talkies is an offence in the north.

Reports had said he was also in possession of a mobile phone, maps, photos and some audio data, which were confiscated by police to check whether he had information on military areas in the north.