The Parliament of Cyprus called on the country's Prosecutor General Giorgos Savvides to immediately make public the interim report of the Investigative Committee on cases of Golden passports.
In a resolution, the House of Representatives stated that Savvides and his deputy should refrain from the process of evaluating the interim report so that it can be published immediately.
It is worth noting that the report is currently with the Attorney General, who must determine whether there are grounds for criminal prosecution of participants in the investment program.
Earlier, Savvides noted that the interim and final reports will be published in an edited form. However, for this it is necessary that they are studied by the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus.
The House of Representatives resolution also asked the Cyprus Supreme Court, as custodian of the constitution, to intervene to ensure the publication of an interim report if the Attorney General refuses to do so.
As you may know the interim report found that 51.8% of the 6770 citizenships examined were granted illegally, and the remaining 48.2% of cases have significant non-compliance with the program criteria.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Investigative Committee interrogated Kypros Kyprianou, who had served as Cypriot Foreign Minister for three years.
During a conversation with members of the Committee, he stated that he had nothing to do with violations in the Citizenship by Investment program. Moreover, Cyprianou said that he had never participated in the consideration of applications from foreign investors, and also did not remember seeing any application for naturalization in his office.
Overall, the testimony to Cyprianou turned into a long attempt to absolve himself of any responsibility, as he argued that all decisions on the files that were sent to the ministry were taken by officials of the "naturalization unit". And in particular, Christina Kaula. It is worth noting that Maria Adamidou, the niece of the wife of the President of Cyprus, helped her.
However, Cyprianou could not fully explain what was the role of Adamidou in KEP and why it was she who was instructed to transfer the documents of investors from competent officials to the relevant minister. It remains questionable whether there was any mediation in the processing of the files or any interference with them by Adamidou.
When asked if he had contacted the Secretary of the Ministry for Naturalization, he said that in the summer of 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it became necessary to expedite the consideration of applications that meet the criteria. He personally forwarded them to Nikos Nouris, who, after the relevant notes, approved the applications, stating that they did not pose a problem and met the criteria of the program.
Chronicles of the Cyprus Passport Saga:
- Part 1 (link)
- Part 2 (link)
- Part 3 (link)
- Part 4 (link)
- Part 5 (link)
- Part 6 (link)
- Part 7 (link)
- Part 8 (link)
- Part 9 (link)
- Part 10 (link)
- Part 11 (link)
- Part 12 (link)
- Part 13 (link)
- Part 14 (link)
- Part 15 (link)
- Part 16 (link)
- Part 17 (link)
- Part 18 (link)
- Part 19 (link)
- Part 20 (link)
Photos: pixabay.com
