On Friday, December 29, Cyprus held another hearing on the "golden" passports case.
During the hearing, the main defendants - former president of the House of Representatives Demetris Syllouris and former MP Christakis Giovanis - did not admit their guilt. At the same time, the third defendant in the case did not appear in court at all. As it turned out, he is now abroad. He was served a summons through the lawyer Andreas Pittagis, who had been acquitted earlier, for January 18, 9:30 am.
It should be noted that during Friday's hearing, the court also rejected the objections raised by Giovanis' lawyer Yorgos Papaioannou, who said that the charges against his client were not justified. The presiding judge in turn emphasized that there was no need to rule on the constitutionality of the charges. But counsel disagreed and told the court that he reserved the right to raise the matter at a later stage of the proceedings. In turn, Syllouris' lawyer Chris Triantafyllides employed similar tactics. Both lawyers told the court that they will send a written request to the Cypriot attorney general asking him to release the witness materials and videos used in the preparation of the Nicolatos report.
As a reminder, the defendants are facing five charges. The main ones relate to criminal conspiracy to undermine the authority of the Republic of Cyprus and to influence an official in violation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Criminalization of Corruption. It should be clarified that the trial is based on the findings of Myron Nicolatos, who investigated the cases of illegal issuance of "golden" passports.
The grandiose scandal erupted on October 12, 2020 after a report by the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera.
The video showed senior officials agreeing to grant Cypriot citizenship to a Chinese investor sentenced in absentia by the PRC authorities to seven years in prison for corruption, money laundering and bribery.
Cyprus has appointed a Special Committee to investigate the high-profile scandal. In parallel, an independent investigation was undertaken by the country's auditor general, who for unknown reasons is constantly being resisted. A series of public hearings were held on the island.
Finally, on June 22, 2021, the final report of the Investigative Committee, which, under the leadership of Myron Nicolatos, investigated the illegal issuance of golden passports, was made public. The 780-page dossier had been significantly edited. The names and some personal details of investors were removed for security reasons.
A lengthy investigation shed light on a host of irregularities. Syllouris and Giovannis resigned. Under pressure from the international community, the Cypriot authorities were forced to close the program on November 1, 2020.
