Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 99-06-08

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] First remains to be removed for DNA testing

[02] House challenges detentions law

[03] More foods banned in dioxin crisis

[04] University may appeal harassment ruling

[05] Eurocypria pilots to stage work stoppage

[06] Popular Bank shares weaker after split

[07] Kyprianou mediates in port strikeACTING President Spyros Kyprianou yesterday met ministers to discuss permanent solutions to the demands of Larnaca port workers, after he persuaded them to call off a planned strike on Sunday.The port workers decided to take strike action after they failed to agree with a government offer of compensation for 51 port workers who are to be made redundant. According to the package offered by the government, £600,000 would be paid to the port workers out of government funds, while a further £200,000 would be given to them as a loan underwritten by the government. Deeming the offer unacceptable, the unions announced their intention to strike indefinitely, and the action went ahead on Sunday at 7am.However, after Kyprianou specifically requested a 24-hour reprieve so that the problems could be discussed, the workers agreed to go back to work for the time being.Yesterday he met with union representatives to discuss their demands before meeting with Minister of Communication and Works Leontios Ierodiaconou and Minister of Agriculture Costas Themistocleous at the House of Representatives.

[08] Suspected forger remanded

[09] Teenage victim’s organs donatedTHE ORGANS of 17-year-old road accident victim Yiannis Stelios Leonidas were transplanted yesterday after the teenager’s parents gave the go-ahead following his death on Sunday.Leonidas was critically injured in Kato Polemidhia on Friday night. His moped went into the back of a car in front of him which stopped suddenly and did not have functioning brake lights.Seriously injured, Leonidas, from Limassol, was taken to Nicosia General Hospital, where he died of his injuries on Sunday afternoon. The teenager’s body was taken to the Paraskevaidion transplant centre later in the day, where doctors said his liver, kidneys and heart would be used to keep others alive.Leonidas was buried yesterday.

[10] US dominates feature films market in Cyprus

[01] First remains to be removed for DNA testing

EXPERTS working on the exhumations at Lakatamia cemetery were yesterday expecting to unearth the first of the remains of those buried there in mass graves in 1974.

"We are starting to take out remains, maybe today maybe tomorrow. We will continue to take them out for the next month or six weeks," Professor William Haglund told reporters at the cemetery.

Haglund, leader of the 20-strong team from the international organisation Physicians of the World, said the remains will be transported in special caskets. "The bones will be packed separately, " he said. "It will be a very gentle process."

Haglund said he visited Greece at the weekend to meet family members of those Greek soldiers believed to be buried on the island. He said he has also spoken to the families in Cyprus.

"They are being briefed," he said. "The first people to hear about any identifications will be the families."

The Institute of Neurology and Genetics has set up a DNA bank with samples from the families of missing persons in order to help identify the remains.

Nicos Theodosiou, a representative of the relatives, said yesterday the DNA bank is 80 per cent completed.

It is hoped that the exhumation of the remains at the Lakatamia and Constantinos and Elenis cemeteries will encourage the Turkish Cypriots to return to an agreement made in July 1997 between the two sides for the location of remains of missing persons.

The Turkish side pulled out of the agreement shortly after files on the whereabouts of the graves of 200 Turkish Cypriots and 400 Greek Cypriots were exchanged in January 1998.

The Greek Cypriot side says the current exhumation work has nothing to do with the July agreement itself, but hopes it will create a good climate for further negotiations.

The Turkish Cypriot side says it will not return to talks on the missing because it claims that the government is including people killed in the coup on the list of 1,619 missing persons.

The Turkish Cypriots list 803 people missing since the outbreak of intercommunal troubles in 1963.

Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides last week said all coup victims were accounted for, putting the figure at around 93 or 94.

But according to an article in the Cyprus Mailon December 13, 1977, the official figure for coup casualties was 504. This was the figure announced by the then Cyprus negotiator Tassos Papadopoulos at a press conference the previous day.

The newspaper said it was the first time the Greek Cypriot side had given any information as to the number of people who had died in the coup.

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[02] House challenges detentions law

Committee Chairman Yiannakis Agapiou called the pre-1960 law allowing such detention undemocratic and unconstitutional. He said it also violated several international conventions on Human Rights to which Cyprus is a signatory.

Agapiou said the government failed to keep its pledge to introduce such a bill before the end of 1998, so the Committee decided to "express our disappointment that the bill has not been sent to the House" with a threat to act alone, he told the Cyprus Mail.

In recent weeks, court action by Nicosia lawyer Yiannakis Erotocritou forced Migration Officer Christodoulos Nicolaides to release three men from Sierra Leone who were detained nine months beyond their two-month sentence for illegally entering Cyprus.

Several other illegal immigrants, who were held in protracted indefinite detention beyond their sentences, have attempted suicide or begun lengthy hunger strikes, he noted.

"We decided we should take the initiative as a committee and propose to the Parliament several amendments to the relevant law, which has been in existence since before Cyprus' independence," House Deputy Androulla Vassiliou said. "There are two or three amendments that should be enacted urgently."

She said the Constitution requires that a court order be obtained in order to keep a person in jail more than eight days beyond their sentence, and that this order needs renewing by the court every eight days.

"Second, there should be a body to which every illegal immigrant can apply if he feels his rights have been violated," she said.

As well, she said, the relevant law currently discriminates against "undesirable immigrants", which includes "a person with an unsound mind" and homosexuals.

In this vein, Agapiou said, the same old colonial law distinguishes between Britons and non-Britons.

Besides ending indefinite detention, Agapiou said the bill the government promised to introduce would allow people to seek political asylum in Cyprus, and would also create the status of refugee, for people fleeing war or other life-threatening conflict.

Currently, Cyprus has no laws granting either political asylum or refugee status to immigrants.

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[03] More foods banned in dioxin crisis

CYPRUS has included baby food, powdered milk and Belgian chocolates on the growing list of European imports suspected of dioxin contamination, and has officially banned the import of more than a dozen foods from Belgium, officials said yesterday.

Baby food, powdered milk, butter and mozzarella cheese were added yesterday by the Health Ministry to the list of imported foods the government has barred, as the dioxin crisis spreads to ever more European farms and food firms.

After an emergency meeting of the Public Health Committee, the Health Ministry urged the public not to eat any Belgian food products they might have in their homes.

It also ordered checks on shops to continue on a regular basis, and warned that any Belgian-made food found on the shelves would be confiscated, and guilty proprietors would be fined.

"We have gone a bit further than the EU... and we included all chocolates from Belgium" on the list of banned imports, Dr Pavlos Economides, director of the Agriculture Ministry's Department of Veterinary Services, told the

Cyprus Mail.

The EU had previously banned live chickens, cattle and pigs, as well as dressed poultry, beef, pork, and meat products derived from them. Also on the EU list were mayonnaise and sauces containing eggs, cakes and animal feedstuffs from farms on the EU's proscribed list.

Those farms are believed to have used animal feed that was contaminated by dioxin, a cancer-causing compound and one of the most toxic of man-made substances. The crucial time of contamination has been pegged at January 15 to June 1.

Some 80 tons of animal feed and 35 tons of milk products from Belgium were quarantined by government inspectors at the weekend, Economides said.

This included four tons of mozzarella cheese for commercial pizza chains that were impounded in a single importer's warehouse, he added.

The government also set up a technical committee to decide how to dispose of all confiscated suspect imported food or food products, he said.

Economides conceded that between January 15 and June 1, people in Cyprus could "definitely" have consumed Belgian-produced foodstuffs contaminated with dioxin, but not in sufficient quantities to worry about.

"The quantities and the time of exposure is limited," he said. "The quantities that may have been consumed are minute... (and) the exposure of the Cypriot consumer is very limited, so I would not say it was important to their health."

Belgium's farms and food industry are reeling from damage estimated at £140 million so far due to the dioxin scare that has spread as far west as the United States and as far east as China, Taiwan and South Korea.

Supermarket shelves in Belgium are reported to be empty, as they have been swept clean of all foods or food products derived from eggs, dairy products, poultry, beef and pork of Belgian origin under EU directives that have triggered panic among some shoppers.

Economides said the Cyprus ban on imports would continue until the government could ascertain which, if any, of the imported foods on the EU's banned list might be safe.

The Verkest fats and oils company, of Ghent, Belgium, supplied dioxin- tainted fats to feed producers in Belgium, Holland and France. They in turn supplied the feed to poultry, pig and cattle farms in their countries and Germany.

Verkest managers Lucien Verkest and his son, Jan, have been arrested by Belgian authorities and charged with fraud, according to Reuters.

Dioxin, a herbicide production by-product and one of the most toxic of man- made substances, can kill some species of newborn mammals and fish at levels of 5 parts per trillion (or one ounce in 6 million tons).

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[04] University may appeal harassment ruling

THE CYPRUS University will consider today whether to appeal against a Supreme Court ruling which has overturned its decision to expel a lecturer for sexual harassment.

Last year Greek lecturer Nicos Valanides was suspended by the university after it upheld allegations by a female student that she had been the victim of sexual innuendo and lewd advances.

As a consequence, Valanides was suspended from duty for 18 months without pay as of January 1, 1999.

Last week Valanides was able to return to work after he successfully appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the punishment decided upon by the University Senate was illegal and violated constitutional and disciplinary regulations.

The court was also unhappy that the university had suggested to Valanides that if he resigned without fuss he would retain his benefits. Judge Frixos Nicolaides said this approach was tantamount to blackmail.

University rector Nicolas Papamichael yesterday tried to put a brave face on the decision.

"The decision was based on procedure. The university is not above the law and we respect the court's decision," Papamichael told the Cyprus Mail.

"The University Council will consider the appeal option when it discusses the issue tomorrow," he added.

Valanides has rejoined his colleagues at the Education Faculty as a member of staff and starts lecturing again when the new term starts in September.

The University Council's decision last November -- following a three-month in-house investigation -- envisaged that Valanides would not be back at his desk until after June 2000.

Students had demanded that the lecturer be kicked out for good.

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[05] Eurocypria pilots to stage work stoppage

EUROCYPRIA pilots yesterday announced a work stoppage in protest at management's delay in filling captain vacancies in the charter firm.

"We are going to carry out a work stoppage to protest the way the Board of Directors is handling the promotions issue in Eurocypria," an official announcement said.

No date has been fixed for the stoppage which is expected to last for two or three hours, a Eurocypria source said.

"Our union has a clear agreement with the Board and everyone agrees that any future captain positions in Eurocypria should be filled by Eurocypria co-pilots.

There are 34 pilots in Eurocypria, ten of whom are members of the Cyprus Airways pilots’ union Pasipy which lays claims to any promotions in the charter airline.

"The Board has decided to leave the captain position unfilled in order to avoid a possible strike by Pasipy even though this way they are violating our agreement," the announcement said.

It said the company recently asked for a delay of one year to fill the position. "We refused because this captain vacancy is due since last July when Pasipy was threatening to strike again. The company asked for our understanding and a delay in the filling of the position and we accepted."

Cyprus Airways spokesman Tassos Angelis yesterday acknowledged that a valid agreement exists between management and Eurocypria pilots for the filling of captain vacancies.

He confirmed that CY had asked the charter firm's pilots for a delay in implementing the agreement in order to conclude discussions with Pasipy on the overall issue of pilot positions within the two companies.

"We are not going to conclude any deals with Pasipy behind their backs," he said. "We have just asked for some time to finish our discussions with Pasipy."

But Eurocypria pilots say they have waited long enough.

"In effect Pasipy is indirectly running our company," yesterday's announcement said. "Using the threat of a strike, it forces the board of directors to victimise us. This is a situation we will not tolerate any more."

When Eurocypria was ‘Cypriotised’ several years ago ten British captains left the company and were replaced by CY pilots because the charter firm's co-pilots were not experienced enough for the job of captain at that time.

But under last year's agreement the Eurocypria co-pilots were finally due to fill the vacancies in their own company.

They believe that by stalling on the issue for as long as possible Cyprus Airways chairman Takis Kyriakides hopes to avoid a strike by pilots in either airline.

"If they promote one of us they will be looking at a strike by Pasipy, and if they promote a Cyprus Airways pilot to the job then we in Eurocypria will strike," the charter firm source said yesterday.

"We think they will try to get through the summer without deciding."

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[06] Popular Bank shares weaker after split

POPULAR Bank shares made a weak start to their post-split era, ending the day at £3.77 apiece, down 5.25 cents on Friday's close of £7.65. A total of 353,214 shares changed hands, accounting for 15.7 of the day's volume.

The share had been widely expected to close at £8.0 on Friday, the last day of trading before the two-for-one split, but the much-heralded split coincided with the market being in the grips of a ‘horizontal mode’ following last month's series of spectacular highs.

"I think the market may have lost a bit of steam," said Stavros Agrotis of CISCO, the Bank of Cyprus' brokerage and investment subsidiary.

Last week's four trading sessions (Monday June 1 was a national holiday) saw market shares rise on three and decline once. For the whole week, the official all-share index rose by 2.08 per cent, thus consolidating the large gains made during May and displaying high resistance levels despite waves of profit-taking.

Traders say yesterday's decline may have been because of the failure of talks between Nato and Yugoslavia on the withdrawal of Serb troops and paramilitaries from the mainly Albanian province of Kosovo under a deal reached last Thursday.

The all-share index closed at 150.48, 0.76 per cent down on Friday, with the blue-chips of the banks the worst hit. The lucrative sector's sub-index dipped by 1.40 per cent, while accounting for £3.62 million of the day's volume of £8.47 million.

"The failure of the (Kosovo) talks has affected the market since the sentiment here is that Cyprus will eventually be affected by the problems in Yugoslavia," said Adonis Yiangou of Expresstock Ltd.

But CISCO's Agrotis said that demand for Popular Bank shares looked certain to pick up, now that the stock is cheaper.

Shares in the Bank of Cyprus, the island's largest, were also caught in yesterday's decline, shedding nine cents to close at £6.62. Trade in the stock, also destined for a two-for-one split later this year, accounted for 25.2 per cent of trade.

The bank's 1999-2003 warrants finished in negative territory as well, closing at £4.35, down 15 cents on Friday's close but accounting for nine per cent of yesterday's entire trade.

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[07] Kyprianou mediates in port strikeACTING President Spyros Kyprianou yesterday met ministers to discuss permanent solutions to the demands of Larnaca port workers, after he persuaded them to call off a planned strike on Sunday.The port workers decided to take strike action after they failed to agree with a government offer of compensation for 51 port workers who are to be made redundant. According to the package offered by the government, £600,000 would be paid to the port workers out of government funds, while a further £200,000 would be given to them as a loan underwritten by the government. Deeming the offer unacceptable, the unions announced their intention to strike indefinitely, and the action went ahead on Sunday at 7am.However, after Kyprianou specifically requested a 24-hour reprieve so that the problems could be discussed, the workers agreed to go back to work for the time being.Yesterday he met with union representatives to discuss their demands before meeting with Minister of Communication and Works Leontios Ierodiaconou and Minister of Agriculture Costas Themistocleous at the House of Representatives.

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[08] Suspected forger remanded

Ali Ashraf Rezk, 28, employed on a fishing trawler at Limassol port, is suspected of forging and issuing documents for his friends to help them find work in Cyprus.

The alleged scam was uncovered when a Syrian man was stopped at Larnaca airport recently with a forged work permit allegedly received from the suspect.

Police said they are looking for another suspect who has been named as Rezk's accomplice.

Tuesday, June 08, 1999

[09] Teenage victim’s organs donatedTHE ORGANS of 17-year-old road accident victim Yiannis Stelios Leonidas were transplanted yesterday after the teenager’s parents gave the go-ahead following his death on Sunday.Leonidas was critically injured in Kato Polemidhia on Friday night. His moped went into the back of a car in front of him which stopped suddenly and did not have functioning brake lights.Seriously injured, Leonidas, from Limassol, was taken to Nicosia General Hospital, where he died of his injuries on Sunday afternoon. The teenager’s body was taken to the Paraskevaidion transplant centre later in the day, where doctors said his liver, kidneys and heart would be used to keep others alive.Leonidas was buried yesterday.

[10] US dominates feature films market in Cyprus

THE NUMBER of films shown in Cyprus soared last year, according to official information released yesterday, with American-made feature films hogging even more of the market than in previous years.

According to the censorship board’s data for 1998, the overall number of films went up by 146 from 1997, with 357 films being screened in 1998, up from 211 in 1997. Specifically, though, while in 1997 194 films originating in the US were shown, in 1998 a massive 339 American movies appeared.

Next up, but trailing badly, was the UK. In 1998, the number of British films arriving on the island made the British film industry recovery look as if it had never begun. Just 11 Brit flicks showed up, only four more than appeared in 1997.

The rest of the list is easily overshadowed by the US.

Two films came from France, down from three in 1997, and one Italian film went before the board for censorship, a slight improvement given that no Italian movies arrived in 1997.

However, Bosnia, Australia, Canada and Czechoslovakia all lost out, with no films hailing from those countries hitting our screens in 1998. In 1997, one film each from all four countries was shown.

Most worryingly, though, it seems as if our own fledgling film industry hit tough times in 1998. Three Cypriot films were shown in 1997, but none made it to the screen last year.

As usual, most of 1998’s films were in English -- 351 -- as opposed to 204 the year before. One film was in French, down from two in 1997, and four were in Greek, up from three.

Italians living in Cyprus were able to enjoy one film in their native language, while they couldn’t have seen any in 1997.

In terms of genre, the most popular was drama. A total of 187 dramas were released, up from 142 in 1997. Comedies came in second, with 70 being released in 1998, 15 more than the 55 released the year before. In third place were animated films, with a surprising 25 released in 1997, a significant increase on 1997’s 10, given that most Cypriots still perceive these as aimed primarily at children. A massive 75 advertising shorts were seen by the censorship board, while the once-popular musical continued to keep a low profile -- none was released in 1998, while just four made it to our screens in 1997.

Cyprus’ controversial and outdated three-category system continued to creak under the weight of the number of films it had to slot into its category one, two or three format (one being suitable for all, two being suitable only for children accompanied by an adult, and three being adults only).

Two hundred and nine films were rated as category one, up from 117 in 1997, while 93 category twos were issued, up from 69. Category three certificates were given to 55 films, again up on 1997, when 24 category three films were released.

According to the information, 1998 saw just one appeal against a classification, with the appeal being accepted after the Censorship Board studied it. Keeping in with the general trend, the amount paid by film distributors in censorship fees also rose in 1998, from £1,278 in 1997 to £1,789 in 1998.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article