NICOSIA, Aug 20 (AFP) - The first Greek Cypriot arrested for flying to Turkey from an airport in the breakaway north of the divided island walked free from a Nicosia district court Friday after the judge ruled the case contravened European Union (EU) law.
Neophytos Constantinou, 56, was freed without punishment after being charged with "exiting and entering the island through an unrecognised port".
The court said that all EU citizens, including Cypriots, could move freely within the bloc's external borders and their own country.
According to state radio, the court said the government itself had said no EU citizens or Cypriots should be prosecuted over such issues.
It also took into account EU-approved regulations governing the traffic of people and goods between the Turkish Cypriot north and Greek Cypriot south, saying that flying out of the north's Tymbou airport was not a criminal offence.
But the authorities have been alarmed at the number of Greek Cypriots now prepared to fly to Turkey from "illegal ports and airports" in the north.
Constantinou was arrested following a police tip-off when he crossed back into the south on Tuesday.
The self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is recognized only by Ankara while the Greek Cypriot administration is the internationally recognised government of Cyprus.
The European Union has drawn up a series of measures to ease the economic isolation of the TRNC as a reward for the strong support that Turkish Cypriots gave to a failed UN plan to end Cyprus' 30-year division.
A reunification plan for Cyprus, voted on both sides of the island in April, was scuppered by a strong "no" vote by Greek Cypriots.
The failure ensured that the Greek Cypriots alone joined the EU on May 1.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the island's northern third in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.