Real estate developer Shimon Aykot, director of the Afik Group, was arrested on June 10 in Cyprus, on his way from Turkish Cyprus to visit Israel, where many of his family live. The regular visit was interrupted when Cypriot law enforcement authorities arrested Aykot for involvement in the purchase and development of property in Turkish territory where Cyprus owns the property of previously displaced Greek Cypriots.
Aykot, 74, was taken to the central prison in Nicosia to await an indictment to be presented on September 9. Attorney Ron Barkman, one of the lawyers representing the family, said they hoped to appeal to the European Union’s Court of Justice after legal efforts in Cyprus had been exhausted, but Aycott’s family warned he might not survive the lengthy proceedings.
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Last Thursday, another prisoner, who they say is an ISIS member, approached Aykot with a spiked phone card. The family claims that when the alleged terrorist learned that Aykot was Jewish and Israeli, he almost stabbed the elderly man before other inmates intervened. This time, Aykut was lucky, Berkman said, adding that next time there might not be anyone to intervene.
“It is shameful that the prison puts criminals with a history of terrorist membership in prison with prisoners with minor crimes. Where is their sense of responsibility?” said Jack Apik, CEO of Apik Group and Aykot’s son. “This time it was ISIS, but I’m worried that next time it could be Greek nationalists.”
A May 2024 report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) warned that there had been an increase in serious violence between prisoners in Nicosia Central Prison, with insufficient security measures and leaders within the prison creating informal hierarchies among prisoners.
Aykot – a Jew, an Israeli and a Turk accused of committing white-collar crimes – is being targeted by various factions of violent extremists who may be located in close proximity to him, Benno and Barkman explained. The family fears that Aykot, a Turkish citizen and resident of Cyprus who does not speak Greek, may be attacked by Greek nationalists who will seek to present him as a prime example of the “usurpation” of “real estate”. In addition, there are other Islamist prisoners who may try to end the work of their peers by murdering a Jew.
“There are constantly situations where they have to keep him away from the Palestinians there,” Berkman told The Jerusalem Post on August 21. “He constantly feels that at any moment someone will stab him with a knife.”
The family says authorities have done little to secure Aykot, although Cypriot sources have indicated they are making efforts to ensure his safe custody. But the danger to Aycott’s life in prison is greater than just the prison population. According to the family, he is being held in inhumane conditions that are not suitable for any prisoner, not to mention that he is elderly with health problems.
The 2024 CPT report warned that in May 2023, the prison was overcrowded, exceeding 300% of its originally designed inmate capacity, with some accommodation not suitable for even one person but packed with up to four, and smoking allowed in all communal spaces. Prisoners lacked toilets at night and drank in bottles in “hot, crowded cells.” Prison officials, not nurses, distributed the medication. According to Aycott’s family, these harsh conditions continued throughout his tenure at the facility.
Aycott’s daughter, Sally, said he slept in a cell with four other inmates. Berkman said the standard was three square meters per inmate, but with a six square meter cell, Aykut only had half that space. During one night the cell got so hot that he passed out, Sally claimed. Aykot must urinate in a bottle, but according to his wife, Racheli, a man of advanced age is forced to do so more frequently, requiring his cellmates to give him their bottles.
According to a private physician’s medical report, Aycott has a history of high blood pressure, for which he needs medication. Berkman said Aycott was repeatedly given the wrong medication. Sally said he usually slept with an oxygen mask, which the jail refused to provide until the family contacted the embassy. Israel.
“Where are the conditions of a European country?” Afik demanded and added that it is like a prison in a third world country. Sally said her father should not be held in prison in such conditions, especially since he has not even been convicted, let alone charged. Aikot, a kosher observant and vegetarian, did not receive proper nutrition, the family claimed. Sally said she tried to get permission to deliver kosher food from a local Chabad house.
“It has no source of protein,” Sally said. “All he eats is plain rice and pasta; they don’t even give him cucumbers or tomatoes. All we ask for here is a tomato.” Sally said she was upset that Aycott had lost nearly 15 pounds over more than two months and that he had to be taken to the hospital several times.
The family expressed great concern about Aycott’s health, describing her as rapidly deteriorating. However, an August 8 letter from a private physician, who performed a medical examination, indicated that while his vital signs were normal, he was experiencing psychogenic symptoms and other minor problems that required attention, including a urologist’s evaluation of his enlarged prostate. Afik tried to obtain the estimate, but as of Tuesday, he was unsuccessful.
Afik hoped that his father would be released to house arrest. The family’s attorneys proposed electronic surveillance or placing Aykot under armed guard at a Cypriot Chabad home pending trial, but the court rejected their requests. Afik said his father is being treated “as if he were a murderer,” with authorities insisting he remain in the overcrowded prison. “Why is my father being held in such harsh conditions?” asked Afik.
Berkman said that Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog and his office tried to discuss the issue with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis, but the latter claimed that he could not interfere in the independent proceedings of the judicial system.
However, Afik also accused the Israeli Foreign Ministry of doing the “minimum” required by law. Barkman claimed that “Cyprus is helping Israel with threats from Hezbollah” and suggested that “Cyprus has more important interests than Jack Afik.” Afik said that he believes that the Israeli inaction also stems from an “anti-Turkish agenda.”
Aycott’s family said they are struggling to cope with his arrest. “I won’t sleep all night,” said his wife, because “all I think about is Shimon.” Sally takes medication to help her sleep. She has two children to take care of but has not spent a single weekend with them since her father’s arrest, and flies every Friday to visit him.
According to Afik, the family “will have no problem dealing with the legal challenges” and will handle the matter in court as needed. However, the inhumane prison conditions, along with threats from other inmates, created an urgent humanitarian problem. “At the end of the day, we just want to save my dad,” Apik said.