NICOSIA - A defence lawyer for nine British soldiers on trial in Cyprus for allegedly going on the rampage in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa argued on Thursday that they had been wrongfully arrested.
The nine members of the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers appeared before Paralimini district court as lawyer Andreas Charalambous suggested that his clients had been wrongly arrested by police following a fracas in February.
"I questioned two police officers today and argued for mistaken identity and wrongful arrest," Charalambous said, adding that the correct procedure had not been followed in making the arrest, thus making it illegal on a technicality.
He said the identification process was also flawed because the soldiers did not take part in a traditional police line-up but were instead taken into a room individually for witnesses to identify.
All nine -- from Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and London -- face charges of criminal damage and causing a disturbance and have pleaded not guilty.
They appeared in the dock on Thursday in dark suits and regimental ties and were not called on to speak. One, a 21-year-old lance corporal from Manchester, faces the most serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm.
That charge carries a five-year maximum jail term.
Two other lance corporals, aged 21 and 22, from Birmingham and Manchester, are charged with inflicting actual bodily harm, which can command a three-year prison sentence.
The three have since been demoted to private.
The trial continues on Friday when more prosecution witnesses will testify.
Police say that a fight that began on the street outside the Bedrock pub spilled over into the premises, with around 20 soldiers bursting inside and starting to smash it up before officers intervened.
Five people were injured as tables, chairs and bottles were thrown, causing damage estimated at around 6,000 euros (almost 9,500 dollars).
One soldier was hospitalised with a fractured skull and has yet to return to active duty.
The soldiers had been celebrating "millionaire's weekend," so-called because it was their last pay packet before their tour in Cyprus ended in March.
Many of the accused have also served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Although their battalion has now returned to England, the accused have stayed behind for the trial.
Two Cypriots hurt in the fracas have filed a civil action against the nine seeking five million euros for loss of earnings and personal injury.
After February's incident, local mayor Antonis Tsokkos said he wanted to ban all teenage British soldiers serving on Cyprus from visiting the resort.
Parts of Ayia Napa are strictly out of bounds to British troops following a spate of violent and drunken incidents in the mid 1990s. The pub was inside the restricted area.
Around 10,000 British troops and their dependants are stationed on Cyprus.
cc/srm/hkb
07/03/2008 16:13 GMT