THE AKHTAR brothers will appear in court today in Cyprus after being returned to the island yesterday, nearly two weeks after they were arrested in Mykonos.
Elias and Giorgos Akhtar, 23 and 28, will appear before a Cypriot court tomorrow after they were arrested by Greek authorities on June 15 acting on outstanding European arrest warrants.
The brothers, who were on the run since August 3 last year, were spotted by two Cypriot police officers who were in the Greek island on holiday with their families.
At the time of their arrest, the pair were found in possession of Lithuanian passports and falsified travel documents which they are believed to have obtained while in Turkey, where they had escaped after fleeing from the occupied areas last summer.
According to Police Chief Iacovos Papacostas, the duo face charges that could see them spend their life behind bars.
“Some of the charges that they are up against are very serious, for example they are being charged of causing injury and grievous bodily harm, charges that can result in a life sentence, while they are also been accused of other smaller crimes,” he said.
The brothers face various charges, including those of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated assault, resisting police arrest as well as illegal possession of weapons and using a weapon with intent to threaten.
Papacostas added that the police would be calling for the pair to be detained until the date of their trial, but this was ultimately a decision that lay with the judiciary.
The Akthar brothers arrived in Larnaca after being flown in from Mykonos at around 11.30am yesterday. Police heightened security measures in the transport of the brothers to the Limassol holding cells.
They had been wanted by police in Cyprus since last summer when they seriously injured two police officers after viciously attacking them with swords, following a search of their Limassol home for drugs and weapons.
Cyprus Mail 2008
