The Cyprus democratic lawyers’ association on Monday demanded that criminal charges be brought against a defence witness in the case of the five Greek Cypriots arrested in the north last month who offered himself as a guarantor to facilitate the bail of one of the five.

The association expressed “strong indignation” over reports that former Cyprus Turkish teachers’ trade union (Ktos) secretary-general Sener Elcil had sold property to Israeli developer Simon Aykut.

Aykut was arrested by Cyprus authorities last year and remains in custody, accused of developing and selling €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north.

It has been alleged that Elcil sold Aykut around £1.4 million (€1.6m) worth of land near the Famagusta district village of Akanthou in 2021, and that the land in question had belonged to Greek Cypriots before 1974.

Elcil issued a swift response to the allegations, saying that he is one of seven members of his family who owned a share in the land, and that he had “inherited [it] from previous generations”, before adding that the land was “as halal as my mother’s milk” and describing the reports as an “unfounded campaign aimed at discrediting” him.

“These baseless attacks clearly show that those who thrive on blood, tears, and profit are disturbed by my solidarity … I believe that this administration, which is a subordinate administration of Turkey in the north of the island, wants to perpetuate its profiteering system by pitting property owners against each other for its own political and financial gain, and to leave the Cyprus problem unsolved,” he said.

Nonetheless, the association said Elcil’s statements were “blatantly false” and called on the government to “proceed with a criminal investigation”, to freeze Elcil’s assets, and to prosecute him and everyone else involved with the sale of the property.

It added that the government must “publicly reaffirm the inalienable property rights of the displaced Greek Cypriots and the illegality of any transaction without the consent of the legal owner” and “intensify international diplomatic action to expose and prevent these actions”.

Elcil had offered himself as a guarantor to facilitate the bail of one of the Greek Cypriots both at the civil case in Trikomo, regarding the two Greek Cypriots accused of privacy violations, trespassing, and breaching the peace, and at the military case in northern Nicosia, surrounding an alleged “illegal entry” into the north of one of the five.

In Trikomo, Elcil and Teyfik Yoldas, a former leader of Dau-Bir-Sen, a trade union for staff at Famagusta’s Eastern Mediterranean University, had offered themselves as guarantors, but were found not to be “reputable”.

The following day, at a marathon hearing stretching more than 14 hours in northern Nicosia, he was once again in court, with it being reported that he had once again spoken up on the five’s behalf.

“I think they are innocent. They would not run away from justice. I do not know them, but I have close friends in the south who do,” he is quoted as saying. He also reportedly offered a guarantee of £25,000 (€28,692) for one of the five to be released on bail.

Judge Dilsah Karayel said that for the offer of a guarantee to be accepted by the court, there must be a “direct organic bond between a suspect and a guarantor”, and given that Elcil had admitted in court that he had no prior personal relationship with the suspects, he was not eligible to be a guarantor.

All five Greek Cypriots who were arrested last month remain in custody, with their next date in military court set for Thursday. The two facing charges in Trikomo will remain in custody until the end of October at the latest.