Fifty eighth year-old Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, the
man who hijacked an EgyptAir plane Tuesday and forced it to land in
Cyprus made his first appearance in court today.
Although he did not take any plea or speak, the court ordered his remand in police custody for eight days.
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Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa: arraigned in court
Police told the court in
Larnaca, that Mostafa faces possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping
people with the aim of taking them to an unknown destination, reckless
and threatening behaviour and offences that breach the anti-terror law.
But as he left in a police car,
he gave the victory sign to journalists attending the hearing at the
courthouse, which is less than a kilometre (half a mile) away from
Larnaca airport where the hijacking unfolded on Tuesday.
Mostafa, who has a Cypriot ex-wife, will
not face any formal charges until a later hearing and only at that point
will he be expected to enter a plea.
Mostafa: In court
Cyprus authorities have described Mostafa as “psychologically unstable” and said the case was not “terrorism-related”.
He is accused of forcing the
plane to divert to Larnaca airport on the island’s south coast on
Tuesday by threatening to detonate an explosives belt that turned out to
be fake.
Authorities allege that his
motives were personal and related to his Cypriot ex-wife with whom he is
reported to have had children.
The hijacking triggered a
six-hour standoff at the airport and the closure of the main entry point
for tourists to the Mediterranean resort island.
Most of the 55 passengers on the
plane — originally travelling from Alexandria to Cairo — were quickly
released after it had landed.
But some escaped only minutes
before the standoff ended, including one uniformed man who was seen
clambering out of a cockpit window and dropping to the ground.
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