German woman handed further remand over north property sales

A 49-year-old German woman was remanded for a further seven days on Friday, under suspicion of selling Greek Cypriot properties in the north.

The woman had already served out a four-day remand handed down on Monday. She had been arrested on Sunday after reportedly talking about her role as a real estate agent to an off-duty police officer found her on a flight to Larnaca.

During Friday’s hearing, defence lawyer Sotiris Argyrou cross-examined the head of the investigative team, inspector Spyros Mesaritis, requesting his client not be detained for a further seven days.

He added that the police have already secured a large volume of documents, which will be subjected to examination. For this reason, he said, the idea that evidence could be tampered with is “out of the question”.

Argyrou said the police want his client to remain in custody for such a long period of time because it is possible that they will need to question her further, rather than the request having been made on “factual data”.

However, the prosecution presented a list of 40 Greek Cypriots who own the land the woman is trying to sell.

In her closing comment, Judge Malvina Nathanail said she “found that the offences under investigation have been committed” and that there is reasonable suspicion that the suspect is connected to the offences under investigation.

A Turkish Cypriot lawyer also followed along in the procedure against the woman.

The woman, the fourth such arrest, was apprehended at Larnaca airport last Sunday.

Having reportedly spoken about selling property in the north to an off-duty police officer during her inbound flight, the officer in question then reportedly told a colleague, and an investigation was launched.

The first officer reportedly informed the woman that selling property in the north was illegal, something to which she did not respond.

Police also uncovered some land registry documents, which showed the woman could be involved in a case being examined by the police on the usurping of Greek Cypriot properties.

The woman was then arrested at Larnaca airport on Sunday while attempting to board an outbound flight.

Another German, Josef Rikels, also has a warrant out for his arrest for promoting property sales in the north.

Following the current crackdown on property sales in the north, Turkish Cypriot representative at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Oguzhan Hasipoglu called for an investigation to be launched after the Republic of Cyprus made the arrests.

Speaking at a PACE law and human rights committee meeting, he said the arrests contradict decisions taken by the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), which is accepted as a means of resolving property disputes by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).