On 15 April – to be able to resolve the case even though he felt he had not intentionally done anything wrong – Ryan Keating pleaded guilty in the Famagusta court to charges of illegal storage of Bibles and providing unauthorised training on barista skills and wine appreciation.
The judge waived punishment for conducting unauthorised training, but set a fine of 10,000TL (US$265) for storage of the Christian books that had not been subjected to customs’ duties.
Ryan had been charged with illegally importing Christian books and producing wine without a license following a joint police and customs raid on his home in Iskele district and Exile Café in Famagusta district in January 2021. This led to court cases in both districts.
In March 2022, although the renewal he had applied for was delayed without valid reason, Ryan conceded the charge of producing wine without a license and was fined 1,000TL (US$67 at that time). There was also a suspended fine of 5,000TL, to be activated in the event of a further offense.
A charge of providing training at Exile Café without permission from the Ministry of Education was added in 2022, following police questioning of regular customers about church activities (Exile Café is the registered address for the local church association).
In 2023, the accusation of having illegally imported books – his various Bibles and other Christian materials – at Ryan’s home address in Iskele was withdrawn pending a decision from the Famagusta District Court.
At a hearing in Famagusta in March 2025, the charge of illegally importing books was dropped and a new charge of storing books imported illegally into North Cyprus brought against Ryan.
Ryan is grateful the case in Famagusta has concluded and requests prayer that his lawyer will be able to negotiate a complete withdrawal of the charges in Iskele and that bond conditions will be cancelled.
