The north’s supreme court on Friday ruled one of the remand orders handed down to the five Greek Cypriots who were arrested in the north in July to be illegal.

The decision relates to a 13-day remand which was handed down at the military court in northern Nicosia during the early hours of August 2, with that case relating to their alleged illegal entry into the north.

They will nonetheless remain in custody for the time being as a separate remand, handed down at a civilian court in Trikomo, was unaffected by Friday’s ruling and remains in effect.

Since that ruling, the five have been held at the north’s central prison, near the Nicosia district village of Neo Chorio.

The supreme court found in a two-to-one ruling, however, that the severity of the alleged crimes did not match the remand given, with the decision stating that the lower court had relied on a statement given by Hakan Ozkanturk, the police officer who was working at the crossing point booth by which the Greek Cypriots passed when they entered the north on July 19.

The five Greek Cypriots had entered the north in the same car from the British Dhekelia base through the Strovilia crossing point, near Famagusta, on July 19, though the police and prosecutors have claimed that only four identity cards were handed over for inspection on the Turkish Cypriot side of the crossing point. The five Greek Cypriots deny this.

As such, of the five Greek Cypriots has been charged with illegally entering the north, while the other four are accused of aiding and abetting that alleged illegal entry.

According to television channel Kanal Sim presenter Ertugrul Senova, who was present in court on Friday, it found that the lower court “cannot make a decision which will deprive people of their freedoms just because the police said they did not see them”.

Additionally, Senova said, the supreme court had pointed out that Ozkanturk had appeared as a prosecution witness, but that he had only been called to testify after the remand hearing had been given.

In essence, therefore, the court found that Ozkanturk’s testimony was used as a reason to hold the five in custody before he had given it.

It also found that a lack of evidence in the case does not constitute evidence – that being that the fact that Ozkanturk said that he did not see all five Greek Cypriots does not mean that those he did not see were committing crimes, and that no testimony had been brought to support the accusation that there was criminal intent on the part of the five regarding their entry into the north.

In addition, it found that the lower court’s findings regarding the potential punishment the five may face for their alleged illegal entry into the north were “flawed”, and that a remand “should not be converted into a sentence”, as the five must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

As such, it ruled that the five suspects be released on a bail worth 200,000TL (€4,145), that they be banned from leaving the north for the duration of their trial, and that they each present themselves at a Turkish Cypriot police station once a week.

However, they will remain in custody for the time being at least, given that Friday’s appeal was heard only regarding the remand handed down at the military court. Their next hearing at the military court will be held next Wednesday.

The three-month remand handed down at the civilian court in Trikomo in the case regarding charges of privacy violations, trespassing, and breaching the peace is still in force, with the next hearing of that case having been set for next Friday after a brief hearing on Friday morning.

That remand was handed down on July 31 and initially only applied to two of the five, but was extended to cover all five on August 21.