Pafos Live 1 June 2024
The high-profile terrorism case against 41-year-old Azerbaijani Orhan Asadov, who used multiple identities to allegedly recruit and for months organize a criminal act against Israelis in Nicosia, is entering a turning point.
Last Thursday, the two sides, the prosecution and defense lawyers of the three people included in the lengthy indictment, made their closing statements in a "trial within trial" process. The three-judge judiciary, after hearing both sides, reserved its decision for July 5.
The verdict is awaited with great interest. Not only because its subject matter has to do with a significant part of the witness material (content of private communication), but also because, as legal circles believe, it will constitute a precedent. In addition, it is understood that after the judgment, the way will be opened for the case to proceed with the affidavits of the prosecution witnesses before the Court.
As regards the subject matter of the objection that led the Assize Court to conclude that it should be clarified by an interim decision, is the position of the defense lawyers of the three defendants for illegally obtained testimony. This issue was raised immediately after the start of the hearing (fall 2023) and the testimony of the first prosecution witness.
The object
The main position put forward and on which the lawyers argued last Thursday has to do with the way in which the Police (ICF Headquarters) had access to the mobile phones of the accused. They argued that it was not done within the framework of the law and consequently the rest of the testimony obtained by the investigators of the police force has been contaminated. They consider that access to the data was obtained before a decree was obtained to remove confidentiality of private communications.
This position was strongly refuted by the prosecution's spokesperson. It objected that any procedures that took place after the execution of the search warrant and the freezing of telephone devices were entirely lawful and aimed at preserving the data. It was explained that only visual material (videos and photographs) was analysed, without processing the private communication data. According to the position of the Prosecution, when a relevant decree was issued (7/10/21), only then was the content of private communication (dialogues, etc.) analyzed.
Ukrainian specialist
During the interim procedure, experts were examined and cross-examined. A police specialist was summoned on behalf of the prosecution, while the defence lawyers of the first accused presented a Ukrainian expert.
On October 11
The Permanent Assize Court of Nicosia had decided and ordered a trial to take place on October 11 last year. The defence lawyers had raised their objection on the basis of the prosecution's submission of evidence. They submitted written submissions, analysing their legal positions on the violation of legal and constitutional provisions in relation to their clients. Asadov's defence lawyers, based on "F's" information (the proceedings are in camera for reasons of national security), in their written argument had argued that the prosecution submitted personal data and content of private communication in violation of the relevant legislation. Among other things, an issue was raised with the personal data of defendants and more specifically that Data concerning its cultural and social identity were processed. They had invoked national law and international law.
Asadov is represented by Kostis Efstathiou, Efstathios Efstathiou and Giorgos Kalogeridis, while the second defendant, 30-year-old Muzafar Abbas, is Panos Paphitis. The third defendant, 29, is defended by Kassandra Koupari.
The terrorism case arose after Asadov's arrest in late September 2021. She was registered on November 5, 2021 with a total of six defendants, while her hearing began on July 6, 2023. Two defendants were acquitted at an early stage, as they were judged not to have been actively involved, while a third person, a 22-year-old Cypriot university student originally from Lebanon, was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for three years and has become a prosecution witness. At the end of September 2022, when one year had passed since Azerbaijan's arrest, the latter, through his lawyer Efstathios K. Efstathiou, had admitted a large number of charges relating to offences of forgery and possession of weapons. The Azerbaijani denies charges related to terrorism, conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering. This was preceded by the satisfaction of Efstathiou's request for access to the ballistic examinations (20/5/2022) of the pistol in his client's possession when he was arrested.
He took $40,000 to commit terrorism
The case arose with the arrest of Asadov on 27/9/2021 in the parking lot of the Nicosia swimming pool and was of international concern due to its geopolitical dimensions/implications. In the court proceedings that took place after his arrest, journalists from Israeli media and a journalistic team of Iran International based in London came to Cyprus. Typical of how the issue was approached is the conviction against the 22-year-old student of Arab origin. In its decision, the Assize Court in March 2022 noted – among other things – that the 2nd defendant in the case, Muzafar Abbas, who lived and worked in Paphos, met the 22-year-old around 2019 at a prayer place in Nicosia. It added that Abbas expressed views against Israelis and Americans and that he supported Iran's positions of revenge against the two nations. Besides, representatives of the then Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett, also spoke of a planned terrorist act shortly after the arrest of 39-year-old Orhan Asadov in Agios Andreas, Nicosia. They were photographing Iran, which according to reports on Israel's state channel wanted to retaliate for the assassination of the head of the Islamic country's nuclear program.
Information we had obtained indicated that Asandov appeared to be targeting an Israeli multimillionaire and four other close ones. The primary target was an Israeli businessman (Teddy Shaggy's name was mentioned, but denied) and internationally acclaimed. During the period in question, he resided permanently on our island, from where he managed his business activities. The list of five people included a person who was allegedly an official in the tycoon's companies. More specifically, this is a person who served as Chief Financial Officer in the corporate Group of the entrepreneur in question and consequently constituted a key partner.
From our information and the charges filed in November 2021, it appears that the Police based on their evidence believe that Asadov had been in Cyprus for months trying to plan and implement a terrorist attack. It is indicative that of the approximately 50 charges initially included in the indictment, at least 40 concern Asadov. Among other things, the indictment shows that authorities believe Assadov acted like an agent. He allegedly used four fake Russian passports and an equal number of fake driver's licenses, had a pistol in his possession and maintained links with anti-Zionist organizations. One of the charges said that between April and September Asadov received $40,000 in Cyprus from a person named Mohammed to commit terrorism.
