The hearing before the north's 'court' in Trikomo against two Greek Cypriots accused of violating the 'law on the protection of personal data and privacy' was postponed to 27 October.
Friday's proceedings centred on a legal dispute over whether a file allegedly found in the defendants’ vehicle could be submitted as evidence.
During the hearing, the 'prosecutor' called on a 'police officer' to testify and present a blue folder said to have been located in the car of the two defendants, seeking to have it admitted as an exhibit before the 'court'.
The lawyers representing the Greek Cypriots objected, requesting first to examine the contents of the folder. After a short recess, the defence raised a series of objections, arguing that the file might have been obtained 'illegally', in breach of privacy laws. They further contended that the folder appeared to have been tampered with containing documents that were not originally part of it, such as photocopies and printed emails and included annotations and underlining not made by the defendants.
Evidential weight
The defence also noted that the 'police officer' called to testify was not the investigating officer in the case but merely the custodian of evidence, and therefore had no knowledge of its contents and could not competently testify about it.
Following another recess to review the objections, the 'judge' accepted the defence’s argument, ruling that the folder could not be admitted as evidence since the witness who presented it lacked the authority to do so.
Immediately afterwards, however, the 'prosecutor' requested that the folder be accepted not as formal evidence but as an 'exhibit' a document that remains in the case file and can be referred to during future witness questioning, though it carries less evidential weight. Despite further objections from the defence, the 'judge' allowed this request.
The 'prosecutor' then stated that there were no additional witnesses to be presented at this stage, and the 'trial' was adjourned to 27 October at 10:30 a.m.