Seven men arrested on charges of human smuggling have been detained in custody pending trial, Kibris Postasi reports.
Mesut Şanlı, Rasit Almohamad, Murat Kıyıcı, Onur Güren, Cuma Bakış, Mesut Raşit, Murat Onur Edip, appeared in court charged with human trafficking, yesterday.
Giving evidence in court, Police sergeant Ömer Faruk Şengil, stated that while the suspects, Mesut Şanlı, Rasit Almohamad and Murat Kıyıcı were trying to escape to Antalya in a 9-metre-long Zodiac dinghy, leaving the refugees in TRNC territorial waters, they were captured by the Coast Guard off the coast of Kyrenia.
Sergeant Sengil stated that the three suspects admitted their guilt while giving statements. The police said that the mobile phone in the possession of the suspects was examined and they detected a phone call with Onur Güren.
Güren, who works for Lapta municipality was ambushed by police while getting into his car. When he saw the police, he threw his mobile onto the ground and broke.
It was noted that the 14 refugees who had been brought into the country illegally could be found.
Sergeant Sengil also pointed out that the suspect Onur Güren is on file for committing a similar crime.
The police stated that after the first four suspects, Cuma Bakış, Mesut Raşit and Murat Onur Edip, who the police believed were also involved with people trafficking, were also arrested.
The court ordered that Mesut Şanlı, Rasit Almohamad, Murat Kıyıcı, Onur Güren, Mesut Raşit and Murat Onur Edip to be sent to prison for a period not exceeding 75 days, and Cuma Bakış pays a deposit of 35,000 TL as cash collateral and two guarantors pay bail charges of 200,000 TL.
