Turkish-Jewish businessman Simon Aykut, who was arrested in early June on charges of usurping Greek Cypriot property in the island's Turkish-occupied territories, will remain in custody until 27 September. The decision was taken on Wednesday morning by the Nicosia Assize Court following a request by the defence to release the defendant from custody on the basis of objections related to Aykut's connection with the companies allegedly involved in illegal land developments in the occupied territories, on the one hand, and the health problems the defendant faces, as well as the conditions of detention, on the other. In explaining its reasoning, the Court considered that there was a risk of the defendant absconding, adding that the seriousness of the offences, as well as the level of the estimated sentence, had been taken into account. It will be recalled that the 27th of September has been set as the date for the prosecution to respond to the pre-trial objections of the defence, which considers that the Assiz e Court has no jurisdiction to hear the case, citing public international law and customary law. The Assize Court met today as a continuation of the proceedings that began on Monday 9 September, during which the prosecution and the defence had presented extensive evidence for and against the defendant remaining in detention in view of the risk of absconding. Referring to the background of the case, the Court recalled that the accused faces 242 charges, the most serious being money laundering, and presented testimony from several Greek Cypriot landowners in the occupied territories and two apartment buyers from the Afik group of companies, which Aykut appears to run in the northern, Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus. Subsequently, the Court referred to the positions of the defence, which had argued that out of more than 240 charges only ¼ are related to money laundering, adding that the defendant's connection with the Duminka and Afik companies had not been proven. The defence had also argued that the defend ant has links with the Republic of Cyprus, as he has property in Larnaca in his name, where members of his family reside, and therefore he had no intention of absconding, and had also cited additional subjective factors, such as the health problems the defendant faces, as well as unfavorable detention conditions in the Central Prison. Having considered the above and taking into account the relevant jurisprudence, the Court announced that it rejected the defence's submissions, ruling that the defendant's detention until the hearing on 27 September was justified. In particular, it noted that there was a risk of absconding on the part of the accused given the seriousness of the charges and the likelihood of conviction. Furthermore, the Court held that there were no strong links between the accused and the Republic of Cyprus and that the personal circumstances did not eliminate the risk of absconding, while as regards the conditions of the accused's detention, it stated that he had been provided with an oxygen device to enable him to sleep at night and medication for his health problems, which, according to a report by a private doctor who visited him in the Central Prison, were not in danger of deteriorating. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Source: Cyprus News Agency