The five Greek Cypriots who were arrested on Saturday near the village of Galatia, near Trikomo, on suspicion of espionage, appeared in court again on Wednesday.

There, all five had their remands extended for a further eight days and will thus next appear in court on July 31. They are three men, aged 68 years old, 66 years old, and 60 years old, and two women, aged 63 years old and 60 years old.

In court, a representative of the Turkish Cypriot police said the five had entered the north via the Strovilia crossing point, near Famagusta, on July 17, and that one of the five had not currently been processed at passport control.

Then, the representative said, the five were seen in a residential area in Galatia, “walking around with a blue folder” and “causing concern”.

The representative said the blue folder contained information about directors of construction companies in the north, and “personal data of title deeds” belonging to 14 Turkish Cypriots, four of whom have filed complaints over breeches of their privacy.

In addition, the representative said the five’s mobile phones have all been confiscated to facilitate investigations, and that more people are wanted in connection with the case.

Defence lawyer Salih Can Doratli described the renewal of the five’s remands as “shameful” and said it “runs contrary to the European convention on human rights”.

He also disputed the charge that one of the five had entered the north without passing through passport control, saying that all five of his clients presented their identity cards to the Turkish Cypriot police upon entry and that there is “no visual evidence which can prove otherwise”.

He then moved to dispute the other charges, asking the court, “which law exactly defines as a criminal offence the act of walking around with a blue folder?”, before asking for “urgent clarifications” regarding the personal data the five allegedly breeched.

On this matter, he said “some” of the five have filed applications regarding property in the area in which they were arrested to the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), and that this “made the documents they had in their possession publicly accessible”.

Additionally, he said there has been “no specific allegation” levelled at two of the five, “other than that they were travelling in the same vehicle” as the other three.

The day’s court proceedings were attended by the families of the five and officials from the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp).

Foreign ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis had said on Sunday that his ministry is “in contact” with Unficyp regarding the arrests.