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Cyprus: Kurdish protesters press for
release of detained leader
26.1.2008
By Stefanos Evripidou
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January 26, 2008
Cyprus, -- The Interior Ministry was the
scene of multiple demonstrations on Thursday as
Iranian asylum seekers and Kurdish protestors filled
the street outside the main gate with flags and
banners.
Around 100 Kurds marched from Eleftheria Square to
the Interior Ministry calling for the release of
their leader Mohammed Ali Ahmad who was being
detained in Block 10.
Ahmad is one of the founding leaders of the Kurdish
political group Yekiti which has been banned in
Syria. According to Athina Karyadi of the
Cyprus-Kurdish Friendship Association (CKFA), Ahmad
faces a life sentence if he returns to Syria.
Ahmad is also an asylum seeker who was serving a
45-day sentence for driving without insurance. As
Karyadi noted, his sentence was much less than the
six-month maximum because of mitigating
circumstances, he was driving the car of his
brother-in-law who was too drunk to drive.
After completing the sentence, instead of releasing
him, police used a provision in the law which allows
asylum seekers who have committed an offence to be
detained until their application is processed. And
so, Ahmad was moved to Block 10,www.ekurd.net
like many asylum seekers
who complete sentences for small offences. Unlike
others though, he has all his documents and papers
in check.
Karyadi maintained that during his time in Block 10,
the authorities had issued a deportation order
against him.
“He is legal here. They want to deport him and have
been pushing him to sign deportation papers. If he
goes back, he faces an automatic life sentence for
being a key leader in Yekiti,” she noted.
Ahmad has a wife and four children living in Cyprus.
Interior Minister Christos Patsalides came out of
his office to speak to the protestors. He maintained
that Cyprus was bound by international rules and
laws on asylum that had to be followed and
respected. He noted that the authorities were acting
within the law by keeping him in jail until his
asylum status could be determined since he had
broken the law.
A representative from the migrant support group KISA
questioned why Cyprus kept this “colonial law” that
allowed a migration officer to detain someone
indefinitely for committing a petty crime.
“This man is not a danger to public safety. Why do
we still have these laws dating from colonial
times?” asked Doros Polycarpou.
“We should all have trust in the institutions of the
state, and to understand there are certain rules and
principles that have to be followed,” said
Patsalides. He made no mention of police efforts to
deport him back to Syria.
After some commotion and promises by the protesters
to camp outside the ministry until Ahmad was
released, the minister left. Once back in his
office, he invited the wife of Ahmad and
representatives of the CKFA for talks.www.ekurd.net
He told them he would
look into the case and make a decision next Tuesday.
The demonstrating crowd was sufficiently placated by
his promise, and agreed to march back to Eleftheria
Square.
Only a group of Iranian women and children
protesting against the detention of their asylum
seeking husbands were left behind, camped outside
the main gate.
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