On Monday 3rd February, the Nicosia Criminal Court agreed to hear the testimony of a key witness in the golden passport case via video link.
We are talking about Tony Kaye, the British estate agent involved in the Al Jazeera report. Incidentally, the man is currently living in England. He refused to come to Cyprus, citing health problems and threats against him.
Notably, prosecutor Haris Karaolidou said the witness had previously given statements to the police five times in the case. However, he was forced to leave Cyprus for the UK in October last year for health reasons. Karaolidou presented the court with a medical report dated 29 January confirming the man's current state of health. The prosecutor also stressed that Kay had personally met all the defendants and therefore had information about what had happened. As such, his testimony is very important to the prosecution.
Also on Monday, the court was shown photographic and video evidence taken from a computer found in the witness's home. The pictures show the defendants both together and separately, surrounded by Chinese nationals. Some of the footage appears to have been taken at social events and conferences. The material was shown to the court by a police sergeant who appeared as a prosecution witness.
However, during cross-examination, defence lawyer Chris Triantafyllides exposed gaps in the prosecution's case. The police sergeant admitted that he could not confirm where exactly the photos and videos presented had been taken. On this basis, Triantafyllides said that these materials could not be admitted in the case. Another defence lawyer, Yorgos Papaioannou, continued his questioning of the sergeant, noting that the visual evidence 'related to investors from China'. He then focused in particular on a photograph of a child sitting on Sillouris' lap. He asked the witness if this child could be a Chinese investor, to which the witness replied in the negative. As a result, the hearing was adjourned until 10 February. Tony Kaye is expected to testify at the next hearing via video link.
It is recalled that the main defendants in the Cyprus 'golden' passports case are former President of the House of Representatives Demetris Syllouris, former MP Christakis Giovanis and senior manager of his real estate company Antonis Antoniou.
The defendants are facing five charges. The main charges relate to criminal conspiracy to undermine the authority of the Republic of Cyprus and to influence public officials in violation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Criminalisation of Corruption. The defendants, for their part, deny all the charges against them. It should be clarified that the trial is based on the findings of Myron Nicolatos, who was involved in investigating cases of illegal issuance of golden passports.