The north’s chief prosecutor has filed a case against left-wing Turkish Cypriot journalist and trade unionist Ali Kismir for “insulting and defaming the morality of the TRNC Security forces command”.

The crime of which he is accused carries a maximum jail sentence of 10 years, and the trial is set to begin on October 6.

The accusation relates to a Facebook post written by Kismir in August 2020, where he likened the headquarters of the ‘TRNC Security forces command’ to a “brothel”.

The context of his post was the campaign for the Turkish Cypriot leadership elections which took place that October, with Kismir saying that people close to the Turkish government were unduly intervening in the elections, holding meetings at the building in question.

Kismir received the papers on Tuesday, and said the case “will go down as a black mark against freedom of expression and thought”.

He added that “this is a purely political cause and the aim is to silence dissident voices. The demand for heavy punishment from those who robbed, plundered the country, betrayed this society … actually shows the point we want to bring”.

“I trust our secular and liberal judiciary. I believe it will not allow such a fabricated political case to pass. I believe our judiciary, which has proven this over and over again and never bowed to pressure from wherever it may come, will teach the necessary lesson to everyone in this case as well”, he said.

Kismir will be represented in court by the head of the Cyprus Turkish bar association Hasan Esendagli.