Killer of Turkish Cypriot teen pleads not guilty to premeditated murder charge

Sefer Bugra Altundag, who is accused of murdering 16-year-old Turkish Cypriot girl Zehie Helin Reessur in January, pleaded not guilty to a charge of premeditated murder on Monday.

Altundag appeared again at Trikomo’s high criminal court, with his lawyer saying he would accept all the charges brought against him except for that of premeditated murder.

The next phase of his trial will begin on November 13.

He has already been convicted of “violating a military base” while escaping the scene of the murder in military court in September , and as a result will spend three years in military prison.

Earlier, the Trikomo district court had heard how Reessur saw Altundag as a brother, and about how she had called her boyfriend on the night of the murder, telling him Altundag had “hit [her] on the nose” before the call swiftly ended.

In a previous hearing, the court had heard how Altundag had “hit her head six times with iron hammer” and then “twice in the chin with an iron mould tension screw”.