Elam MEP Geadis Geadi testified on Friday in court in the trial within a trial of the German real estate agent accused of usurping Greek Cypriot property in the north.

Geadi recalled conversations he had with the accused while sitting next to her on the flight from Frankfurt to Larnaca.

A handwriting expert also testified at the Nicosia criminal court.

The trial within a trial is being held to determine the circumstances under which the defendant was arrested at the airport after landing, the language used and the circumstances under which she signed a consent form allowing the authorities to inspect her luggage.

Geadis said he helped the accused place her suitcase in the cabin lockers and then she sat next to him, introduced herself and told him that she worked in real estate in the north.

“I asked her if this was illegal,” he said, reading from his testimony.

Geadis said the woman did not answer, leading him to suspect that “it might be related to cases of usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties” in the north.

The MEP then approached a police officer he knew was on the flight and related the conversation to him.

Replying to prosecution questions, Geadis said they were speaking in English and that the conversation lasted for a considerable part of the four-hour flight.

During the cross-examination, the defence lawyer asked Geadis why it had taken him six months to give a statement, to which he replied that he had a very busy schedule and that he had been waiting for the police to notify him.

Geadis also said he acquired the defendant’s phone number when he said he had property he wished to sell.

He told the court that he in fact did not have property in the north and that he was prohibited from crossing in any case “since we are considered a terrorist organisation” in the north.

A police officer with expertise in the forensic examination of handwriting and signatures submitted a report in court, as the defence had previously disputed that the consent form had not been filled in by the defendant.

According to the results of the examination, included in the report, the sample taken in court and the writing on the form were by the same person.

“I am convinced that this writing was done by the author of the specific samples. It is not speculation, I am convinced that it was done by the specific person,” the police officer said.

The next hearing will be held on June 2 at 9am, when the witness will be cross-examined by the defence lawyer.

The suspect will remain in custody till then.

The 49-year-old German suspect faces a total of 44 charges for the advertisement, promotion, selling and the use of several properties in four different areas in the Ayios Ambrosios and Kyrenia area.

Additionally, she is accused of obtaining an income of €169,000 from “fraudulent acts” and purchasing an apartment for herself in the north without approval of the legal owner.

The suspect has denied all charges brought against her.