Saturday, 21 January 202
A man and a woman were arrested by police charged and with helping illegal immigrants and refugees to enter the country, Kibris Postasi reports.
Mustafa Kenan Sivri and Perihan Ulas, are accused of aiding illegals entering the country at Vogue Beach in Catalkoy.
Those entering the country were 40 Syrian refugees, among whom, were 10 children including two infants.
Chief Investigating Officer Ömer Yavuz, stated that during the operation carried out by the police teams in front of Şençağ Market, located between Çatalköy and Esentepe, irregular immigrants were discovered in the back of a van driven by one of the accused, Nicosia resident Mustafa Sivri.
Yavuz asked the court that both defendants be detained for three days, because the investigation had only just begun and statements had to be taken.
A lawyer representing the Refugee Rights Association, on the other hand, did not object to the duration of detention, but ask that irregular migrants, especially women and children, be kept under police surveillance in a suitable dormitory.
Officer Yavuz, said that the refugees would be housed in a student dormitory.
Kyrenia District Court Judge Zehra Yalkut Bilgeç emphasised that the investigation into the smuggling had only just begun and that the crime of human smuggling is a very serious and should be tried at the High Criminal Court.
He ordered the suspects to be detained for three days in order to allow the investigation to be conducted securely.