The five Greek Cypriots who were arrested in the north last month were remanded for another seven days on Thursday and will likely enter pleas on August 21.

All five briefly appeared at a military court in northern Nicosia, having spent a total of 26 days in custody thus far, with one of the five standing accused of having entered the north illegally, and the other four standing accused of having aided and abetted that illegal entry.

Prosecutors alleged that when the five entered the north from the Strovilia crossing point, near Famagusta, on July 17, only four identity cards were handed over to the police on duty at the crossing point. The defence denies this.

According to newspaper Ozgur Gazete’s editor-in-chief Pinar Barut, who was present in court on Thursday, the hearing began with the judge making a speech stressing that if there is to be a trial, it should begin as soon as possible.

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The judge then advised prosecutors and defence lawyers to meet each other in the week to discuss the evidence available to them.

Additionally, according to Barut, the judge was keen to stress that only one of the five stands accused of entering the north illegally and suggested that if that defendant were to plead guilty, cases against the other four could be dismissed.

Barut also said the judge had made reference to the fact that the defendants “are old” and “have illnesses”.

“So, if the defendant will not plead guilty, and if this case will not be dismissed for the other four defendants, if there will be a trial, it will begin on August 21,” the judge said.

The judge then asked for both counsels’ input, with Barut quoting the prosecution lawyer as having said that they were “open to a meeting” and quoting defence lawyer Oncel Polili, who is representing the individual who stands accused of entering the north illegally, as saying that the defence is “ready for the trial”.

He also said that all five defendants are elderly and suffer from health issued and requested that his client be examined by a doctor.

Then, Ugur Culhaoglu, who is representing the other four Greek Cypriots, began to explain the health issues experienced by his four clients.

He said one of the four has “serious sleep apnoea”, and that he had applied to the north’s ‘interior ministry’ on August 6 to provide him with a device he uses for the condition, but that in the intervening week, “we have not received any response”.

“Therefore, I request that my client be referred to a fully equipped hospital so that the device used for sleep apnoea can be provided,” Culhaoglu is quoted as saying.

Culhaoglu also requested that another of his clients, who he said is suffering from “heart problems”, be referred to a hospital.

The court ruled that all three defendants who are said to be suffering from health problems be referred to a hospital, before adjourning the case until August 21.

The three-month remands remanded to two of the five Greek Cypriots at a court in Trikomo last month, with those remands set to expire at the end of October.

The Turkish Cypriot authorities also arrested two Turkish Cypriots, an 83-year-old estate agent and an employee of the north’s land registry, on suspicion of aiding and abetting the five. They were both released on bail on August 7.