The case against Israeli property developer Simon Aykut, accused of having developed and sold €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north, was on Friday adjourned until October 13.

Friday’s hearing was brief, beginning with the prosecution declaring that it had new evidence, and ending when the defence requested time to study it.

Recent hearings have seen relatives of the registered pre-1974 owners of land allegedly developed by Aykut’s company, the Afik Group, testify, telling the court that they did not give Aykut or the Afik Group permission to develop their land.

Meanwhile, the policeman who was working in the passport control booth at the Dherynia crossing point and arrested Aykut when he attempted to cross into the Republic from the north in June last year also testified, recounting his version of events of the day.

At the beginning of this month, Aykut’s son Yaacov Afik released a statement to mark 500 days since his father was arrested, criticising the Republic of Cyprus for the way he has been treated.

He compared the case being faced by his father to that being faced by the five Greek Cypriots who were arrested in the north, and said that “while political and diplomatic campaigns are being carried out for the Greek Cypriots, silence prevails for 75-year-old cancer patient Simon, who has been imprisoned in the south for 500 days”.

He added that he applied to the European Court of Human Rights over his father’s case six months ago, but that the case is “still pending”.