Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-04-16

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Thursday, April 16, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Doomsday death cult founder in Cyprus

[02] Britcon bar ban: Ayia Napa off limits for UN soldiers

[03] Father killer 'had drug-induced paranoia'

[04] Student critical after fall from building

[05] UN 'doing everything it can to make progress'

[06] US 'should help EU deal with Cyprus impasse'

[07] Journalists face prison over passports article

[08] Antiquated interest rate law to be abolished

[09] Toddler burns two farms

[10] New bill to help children with special needs

[11] Drug smuggler gets six years

[12] Attorney-general orders illegals freed

[13] Hoteliers urge workers to accept pay freeze

[14] Vets support dangerous dogs ban

[15] Tourists say they were robbed

[01] Doomsday death cult founder in Cyprus

A FOUNDING member of the Japanese doomsday cult responsible for the 1995 subway gas attack in Tokyo which killed 12 and poisoned thousands is in Cyprus, it was revealed last night.

In an exclusive report, CyBC television said Toshiyasu Ouchi, 45, wanted by the Japanese authorities, is in Limassol and is under surveillance by police.

The report was later confirmed by security sources on the island who described Ouchi, a senior member of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, as being "a very dangerous person".

He arrived in Cyprus on March 12 on a flight from Russia where he had been leading the cult's activities and was granted a three-month tourist visa to stay on the island, the sources said.

"Cyprus police have information on this man and they are in close co- operation with the Japanese authorities," the sources said.

"He came from Russia and has a permit, but he is being watched very closely."

Cyprus and Japan do not have an extradition treaty.

Ouchi is also suspected of playing a part in the murder of a fellow Aum member who tried to escape from the sect's commune at the foot of Mount Fuji in 1989.

Until he fled Russia on March 12 he led the doomsday cult's activities in Moscow from 1992, but the Russian authorities had begun to investigate him. It was reported on April 2 that Ouchi had left Russia for a third country, the same day it was announced that he had been placed on Japan's nationwide watch list.

Japanese police said at the time that a search for Ouchi would be made through the International Criminal Police Organisation (ICPO).

The cult has around 2,000 followers and 20 branches across Japan. Its leader Shoko Asahara is currently on trial on 17 charges, including murder, stemming from the subway gas attack.

[02] Britcon bar ban: Ayia Napa off limits for UN soldiers

UNFICYP has slapped a ban on British soldiers visiting Ayia Napa after a tourist was blinded during a brawl, spokesman Waldemar Rokoszewski said yesterday.

"The Force Commander decided Ayia Napa was out of bounds for the British battalion serving with Unficyp," Rokoszewski told the Cyprus Mail.

Five soldiers from the First Royal Tank Regiment have been confined to barracks in Nicosia pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations they attacked and blinded a British tourist.

The attack which left Jeremy Caprio, 35, blind in his right eye took place outside a disco in the beach resort in the early hours of Tuesday.

He also suffered a fractured nose in the attack which he claims was carried out by the British soldiers.

Talking to reporters yesterday from his hospital bed in Ayia Napa, computer technician Caprio said Tuesday's attack had been unprovoked. "I was trying to keep three of them off me. A friend of mine said there were at least four or five," said Caprio.

"Once I got hit I can remember very little. There was a boot coming into my face... the next thing I knew I woke up here."

Caprio said he is still hopeful when he returns to the UK that something can be done about his damaged right eye.

"If they can't, I've still got another one," he said.

Caprio, whose girlfriend was due to fly in from the UK last night, has been to Cyprus at least ten times and said that what happened would not put him off coming again.

"I am not too happy about the soldiers being here. I know Cypriot friends who own bars and they are not too happy about it either," he said.

Around 380 British soldiers serve with the Unficyp, stationed in Nicosia. They have all been banned from Ayia Napa "until further notice", Rokoszewski said.

He said a full investigation by a multinational team in accordance with military regulations and in co-operation with the Cyprus police will be conducted as a "top priority". UN headquarters in New York has also been informed.

"We recognise the seriousness of this incident," Rokoszewski said.

He added this is the first time members of the regiment in question have been involved in any alleged incident in Cyprus. "This battalion has a pretty good record in Cyprus," he said. The regiment recently collected £11, 000 after staging an event for charity.

[03] Father killer 'had drug-induced paranoia'

A 26-year-old Larnaca man who has pleaded guilty to stabbing his father to death last Christmas Day was suffering from drug-induced paranoid delusions at the time, his lawyer said yesterday.

Athos Neocleous has also pleaded guilty to attempting to kill his mother Despina in the same attack that cost his father, Archimedes, his life.

Defence lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou told the Larnaca Assizes yesterday that his client should be considered as having diminished responsibility when sentence is passed on April 30.

Arguing for a lenient sentence, Efstathiou painted a picture of a drug- dependant and confused young man who was unaware of his own actions. He said Athos had used marijuana regularly for three years while studying in the US and also dabbled with hard drugs. Efstathiou said his client had been permanently damaged by one particular drug-taking experiment in which he took ten 'speed' tablets in one go.

At the time of the attack, Athos was convinced the people he attacked at his home were not his parents but imposters from Egypt, Efstathiou told the court.

The lawyer also referred to a psychiatrist's report on Athos which concluded it would take two years of drug addiction rehabilitation to restore his client's mental health.

The court has heard that Athos attacked his parents in the kitchen of their home on Aeschilos Street in Larnaca. Athos mortally injured his father with a knife and stabbed his mother with the same weapon several times, the court heard. A senior policeman who happened to be visiting the family home at the time was powerless to stop the assault, the court heard.

Despina spent two months in hospital after the attack.

The attack apparently took place after an argument between father and son over the cutting short of Athos's studies in the US, the court heard.

Athos will remain under police guard at Athalassa mental home until sentencing.

[04] Student critical after fall from building

Teenager Yue Liang, a student at the CTL College, had forgotten his key and tried to get into his apartment by climbing up the outside, police said.

Liang lives in the apartment with his two siblings Yue Yang 20, and Bao Zheng, 17, both of whom are also students at the same college.

Police said that at around 1.20am yesterday the three students returned home to find they had forgotten their key.

Liang, the lightest of the three, then attempted to climb up a thin rope hanging from the side of the building but the rope broke and he fell.

He was taken to Limassol hospital suffering from multiple injuries.

[05] UN 'doing everything it can to make progress'

THE UN yesterday acknowledged that efforts to solve the Cyprus problem were in a rut, but that it was doing everything possible to move things forward.

Speaking after meeting President Clerides, UN Permanent Representative Gustave Feissel expressed the hope that their efforts would soon produce results.

"We are in a situation where things have been stuck for quite a while and we recognise that it's vital that we move things forward and we make progress towards a settlement," Feissel said.

He said the UN secretary-general and others, such as the US, have been working hard to find a way out of the current impasse. "And we hope that this effort will bear fruit."

The US recently tried to kick-start the stalled direct talks between Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

But US presidential envoy Richard Holbrooke came away empty handed after Denktash made it clear he will not return to the negotiating table unless the talks take place between two states. His demand came after the European Union decided to open accession negotiations with Cyprus.

Holbrooke is due to try again at the end of the month.

Feissel met Denktash on Tuesday and said he raised the issue of the Turkish Cypriot regime's ban on all bicommunal meetings.

"Of course we talked about it," Feissel said. "It is important that the people from the two communities meet if that is their wish..."

Feissel also confirmed yesterday that both sides have accepted the appointment of Swiss diplomat Jean-Pierre Ritter as the UN representative on the tripartite Committee for Missing Persons. Ritter is expected on the island shortly, Feissel said.

He also said Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner Takis Christopoulos and Turkish Cypriot representative Rustem Tatar will meet soon on the issue of missing persons.

The two men exchanged information in January on the whereabouts of mass graves on each side of the divide following an agreement between the two leaders last July.

[06] US 'should help EU deal with Cyprus impasse'

In a letter published in the Washington Post, Robert E Andrews, a representative for New Jersey, said the US should help the EU deal with the impasse over Cyprus.

Andrews, a Democrat and member of the House International Relations Committee, said the United States should make its support of Turkey's membership into the EU contingent on its settlement of the Cyprus situation.

Turkey's interests economically and culturally were best served if it became a member of the EU, he said.

"Turkey also is situated in a precarious geographic position - in Southwest Asia but not fully identified with its Asian neighbours. By joining the EU, Turkey will be considered as Western as its Nato partners."

Andrews said Germany should be encouraged to take the lead to bring Turkey into the EU and to the negotiating table with Greece. The US should explain to Germany it stood to gain if Turkey joins the EU, and elicit Bonn's help in finding a peaceful solution.

Andrews anticipates an important role for the US. "The United States should use its economic power to create change. America can help bolster the Turkish economy to the point at which its inclusion into the EU will not be a financial burden on the other members. We should provide loan guarantees and meaningful assistance to Turkey, based on the strict condition that Turkey has negotiated a peaceful resolution to the Cyprus issue."

And the U S Congressman added: "Extending the offer of EU membership for Turkey is still an excellent incentive for easing tensions between Greece and Turkey and can be done if the above strategy is put in place. We have an obligation to take an active interest in the Cyprus situation not just because of our position as a world leader, but because it is the right thing to do."

[07] Journalists face prison over passports article

CRIMINAL charges are being brought against three Turkish Cypriot journalists over an article claiming that 13 politicians in the north possessed Cyprus Republic passports.

According to Turkish Cypriot press reports yesterday, a total of 27 years in prison is being sought for three journalists from Kibris newspaper.

They have been named as Chief Editor Mehmet Ali Akpinar, Editor Basaran Duzgun and reporter Dilek Cetereisi, all of whom deny the charges being brought against them by the 'Chief Prosecutor's Office'.

In February the daily published an article which said that 13 politicians and 'officials' in the occupied north held Cyprus Republic passports.

The paper said its information was based on intelligence reports, which it has been asked to produce along with an apology.

Republican Turkish Party leader Mehmet Ali Talat said efforts were being made to stifle the freedom of the press, among other violations of the human rights of the Turkish Cypriots.

Speaking to journalists, Talat said the violations were reaching excessive levels, and he accused Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and the 'government' of asking the people pay for "their international failures".

He cited the recent approval by the 'cabinet' of a bill to punish Turkish Cypriots who hold Cyprus Republic passports.

Under the bill some 2,000-3,000 Turkish Cypriots who hold passports from the Greek Cypriot side must hand them in within 90 days or face heavy fines and up to five years in jail.

Avrupa newspaper said yesterday the order to draft the passport bill had come from Ankara in an attempt to snub the European Union which has recently opened accession talks with Cyprus at Turkey's expense.

Avrupa said Ankara wants to give the impression the breakaway state is edging closer to annexation with Turkey - a Turkish threat if Cyprus joins the EU.

[08] Antiquated interest rate law to be abolished

IN THE first move towards liberalising the island's financial regime since the start last month of EU accession talks, the government said yesterday that it would submit to parliament by June a draft law lifting a ceiling on interest rates in force for more than 40 years.

Speaking to reporters yesterday after a meeting with Central Bank Governor Afxentis Afxentiou, Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou said: "Our target is to complete the process of discussion with social partners and other interested parties by June, and then legislation will be tabled to parliament."

"It should be enforced as soon as possible," he added.

The present legislation, introduced in 1944 to combat the spread of usury, imposes a nine per cent interest rate ceiling. At present, banks charge eight per cent interest for loans and pays 6.5 per cent interest on deposits.

"Setting a rate ceiling by law is already posing some serious problems and there have been strong recommendations for some time that this anachronism must be abolished. But it is also needed for our own economy," said Christodoulou, a close aide and confidant of President Glafcos Clerides.

The liberalisation of the country's rigidly-controlled financial sector is among several reforms which the government must introduce as EU accession negotiations progress. Other areas in which changes are needed are capital movements and foreign currency regulations.

The island also needs to rein in its fast growing fiscal deficit, cut spending and gradually remove state subsidies given to certain sectors of the economy.

Cyprus hopes to become a full EU member by the year 2002 or 2003.

[09] Toddler burns two farms

Three thousand bales of straw, 100 rabbits, 50 chickens, two electricity generators, a tractor, a car, and several outhouses on both farms went up in smoke after the toddler set fire to a bale of straw with a cigarette lighter.

The incident happened at around 11.30am on the farm of George Orphanides in the village outside Nicosia where the bulk of the damage - £30,000 worth - occurred.

The child, Andreas, was being looked after by Orphanides' wife Georgia and her daughter-in-law Evroulla, the boy's mother.

The fire spread within minutes to the next farm belonging to Nicos Stylianides where it caused £15,000 worth of damage.

[10] New bill to help children with special needs

NEW machinery is in the pipeline to ensure chldren with special needs are given the chance to fulfil their potential at either special or mainstream schools.

A long-awaited bill sent to the House of Representatives aims to modernise the existing legal framework and set out procedures for early diagnosis and scientific evaluation.

It promises educational opportunities for children with learning disabilities, free of discrimination in as free an environment as possible.

Under the proposal, which is still subject to the approval of the House of Representatives, children with special needs will attend mainstream schools unless this harms the child or affects the education of other children in the classroom.

If approved, the new regime will provide for the establishment of a committee on special education in each district charged with evaluating the needs of every child requiring special assistance.

The committee would decide whether the child should attend a mainstream or special education school, and ensure the child access to the most suitable institution. Parents would be free to attend the evaluation.

The bill also sets out an obligation for everyone, particularly parents, teaching staff, psychologists and social workers, to alert the committee about any child they feel may have special needs.

It also provides for the appointment of liaisons to provide children and their parents support and guidance and serve as link with schools and the special committee. The performance of each child is reviewed by the committee at least once a year. Special education can be offered until a child is 21.

Parents of a child with special needs may at their own cost make alternative arrangements at a private school or elsewhere. But all children are allowed free education at state mainstream or special schools.

The new regulations will apply to private special schools which will be obliged to abide by its provisions within two years of the bill's implementation.

[11] Drug smuggler gets six years

Shahram Aliasgar Abedin, from Tehran, was arrested after a police sting operation in Larnaca on March 11.

Abedin was named as a drug supplier by a Greek Cypriot arrested for possession of a small quantity of marijuana a few days before, the court heard.

Police got the Greek Cypriot suspect to set up a meeting with Abedin, ostensibly in order to buy drugs from him, the court heard. The meeting was set up for March 11 and police lay in wait for Abedin and caught him with more than 600 grams of marijuana in his possession, the court heard.

Police said the Iranian later confessed to involvement in a drug-smuggling ring importing marijuana from Iran hidden in the soles of women's shoes.

[12] Attorney-general orders illegals freed

The order to release them came from the attorney-general's office, which ruled the police had no right to detain them any longer.

The Iraqis had come to Cyprus seeking a better life in November. They arrived by boat, disembarking at Protaras, but were arrested almost immediately.

Now they will remain at a flat in Nicosia until the immigration department can decide where to send them, police said.

[13] Hoteliers urge workers to accept pay freeze

HOTELIERS yesterday cried poverty and asked hotel workers to accept a collective agreement providing for a wage freeze.

Hoteliers' Association Chairman Avgerinos Nikitas urged unions to say yes to the offer "in order to restore the competitiveness and viability of our tourism product while also securing the employment of hotel workers in the long-term".

The Labour Ministry is currently mediating between unions and the Hoteliers' Association in an effort to break a deadlock in negotiations for renewal of collective agreements. The Sek and Peo unions representing hotel employees have been pushing for pay rises.

The association called a press conference yesterday to set out its stall in negotiations. Nikitas painted a bleak picture of the state of the hotel industry in order to justify its call for a wage freeze.

He said hotel prices and incomes had remained stagnant for the past seven years while costs had increased by about 70 per cent over the same period. Nikitas said bookings remained low, at about 52 per cent and productivity in the sector was about half that in main competitor countries.

Hotels owed banks about £600 million while competition from other, much cheaper, destinations increased, he said. Wage bills accounted for around 50 per cent of costs for local hotels whereas in Turkey they came to only 23 per cent and in greece 25 to 30 per cent, Nikitas said. A waiter cost a hotel £427 a month in 1992, but now cost £739 - 73 per cent more, he said.

By way of concession to unions, Nikitas promised the agreement tabled by the Association would be "binding and applicable to all hotels and hotel apartments uniformly" if accepted. Unions have long complained that some hoteliers fail to keep to collective agreements.

"This is not a final document but a proposal," he said of the offer. "The ball is now in the ministry's court."

[14] Vets support dangerous dogs ban

VETS have joined calls for a ban on dangerous breeds of dog. They say four breeds - Japanese Tossa, American Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero, should not be allowed into Cyprus at all.

Those already here should be neutered in order to eliminate all dangerous breeds from Cyprus gradually.

Any ban would require a new, comprehensive legal framework, expected also to cover better tagging of dogs and regulations for dog breeders and trainers.

The issue came up before the House Agriculture Committee. Its report, circulated in the House of Representatives recently, adopted these proposals and gave its backing to a list of others, including more expensive dog licences and limits on the number of dogs individuals can own.

The matter was brought to the committee by Diko deputy Markos Kyprianou. A spate of attacks on children had drawn attention to the sharp increase in the number of dangerous dogs, and the fact there were no controls on the type and number of dogs one can own.

Kyprianou said the veterinary services should specify which breeds are dangerous and prohibit their import or breeding. Muzzles should be made compulsory and regulations brought in to govern the operation of dog training centres - currently allowed to operate in a legal vacuum. There should also be an enlightenment programme to educate the public on how to handle and train dogs, he said.

The Veterinary Department of the Agriculture Ministry said a draft bill containing many of these proposals was being drawn up. It was also proposing better tagging of dogs and the opening of a series of dog shelters to cover the whole island.

The draft bill specifies which breeds are dangerous, imposes strict controls on dog training centres, and proposes more up to date ways to catch and exterminate strays.

Municipalities and local communities said they supported a ban on dangerous breeds to better protect the public. Communities said the huge number of stray dogs and confusion as to whose job it was to catch them only made the problem of safety worse.

They proposed a limit to the number of sheepdogs per herd and the number of dogs per owner.

The Veterinarians Association went further. It named four breeds that should be banned from Cyprus, called for more effective measures to stop strays coming from the Turkish-occupied areas, and urged the introduction of the electronic tagging system in force in many countries abroad.

The House Agriculture Committee said urgent action was needed to cope with the growing problem of dangerous dogs. It gave backing to calls for a ban on dangerous breeds, tough controls on dangerous breeds already in Cyprus to ensure they are muzzled and on a special leash when among the public, regulations for dog training centres, and better tagging. Deputies also agreed on costlier dog licences and a limit on the number of dogs.

[15] Tourists say they were robbed

Doron Haveli, 42, and his 40-year-old partner Fannie Devik also said their passports had been taken along with the valuables, police said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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