Kenan Ayas will return home to Cyprus on September 8th
Kenan Ayas is about to be transferred to Cyprus. The German and Cypriot authorities have agreed on a transfer date for Kenan Ayas. He will arrive in Larnaca on September 8th. Kenan Ayas is very much looking forward to returning to his adopted homeland of Cyprus and seeing the people who fought for him and showed solidarity with him over the last two and half years.
Unfortunately, Cyprus’s authorities now have to enforce the Hamburg court’s verdict. As we have reiterated, Kenan Ayas’s defense team deems this verdict legally flawed and a violation of his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. Despite these circumstances, the defense had no legal choice but to request that this flawed judgment be enforced in Cyprus to bring Kenan Ayas back to Cyprus as soon as possible. But Kenan Ayas will continue to fight the Hamburg judgment and will appeal it before the European Court of Human Rights.
However, once Kenan Ayas is in Cyprus, it will be up to the Cypriot authorities to decide,according to Cypriot law, how much longer he has to serve. Kenan Ayas has never been charged with or convicted of any violent crime, yet he has been held in Germany under harsh anti terrorist conditions for over two years. Therefore, Kenan has served much too long due to Germany’s relentless persecution of the Kurdish movement. We are confident that thecompetent Cypriot authorities will consider this and release him as soon as possible under Cypriot law.
Nicosia/Berlin, September 3rd, 2025
Rechtsanwältin Antonia von der Behrens, Berlin Attorney
Efstathios C. Efstathiou, Nicosia, Cyprus