Nicosia District Court has acquitted Marios Menelaou, former General Director of the Public Natural Gas Company (DEFA), of common assault and threat charges against a former subordinate.
The case stemmed from a private criminal complaint filed in March 2023 after the Law Office rejected prosecuting him.
The complainant, who served as Coordinator of the Vasilikos project contract and member of a contractor evaluation committee, reported to police on 6 September 2022 that he had been assaulted and threatened by Menelaou.
Police investigated and took statements from all DEFA staff, but the Attorney General decided not to prosecute for public interest reasons.
The court found the complainant’s testimony “excessive” with significant “substantive contradictions”, gaps in the flow of events and selective presentation of facts.
The court noted the complainant and his witnesses appeared to act vindictively due to exclusion from a competition, and their testimony was weak regarding credibility and coherence.
Specific gaps in the complainant’s version included contradictions between his written statement and oral testimony about what the accused said and did when exiting the office, an illogical description of the accused “fiddling with the air conditioner whilst enraged”, and unclear references to threats that neither the witnesses nor the complainant could confirm with accuracy.
Menelaou underwent approximately 10 hours of cross-examination. The court assessed his testimony as fully coherent, calm, substantiated and logically consistent, noting his demeanour was opposite to the image prosecution witnesses tried to present. He answered without evasion all questions, including those about the termination of his contract at DEFA.
The court emphasised that the burden of proof for conviction is “beyond a reasonable doubt”, noting that since the prosecution’s testimony was deemed unreliable, acquittal was inevitable.
On the charges, the court found the accused did not exceed the limits of reasonable self-defence, noting the complainant blocked him from exiting the office and brought his face within breathing distance, which the court considered a potential assault.
The decision stated that no threat emerged against the complainant, and the phrase “You and you are finished” did not constitute a threat, as it did not cause fear or terror.
The court fully acquitted Menelaou and cleared him of all charges. The decision emphasised the complainant’s version was “one-sided, unclear and selective”, whilst the accused’s testimony provided a “complete, calm and logically consistent picture” of events.
In a statement after the decision, Menelaou called it a “clear vindication”, condemning publications that adopted unsubstantiated claims about assault and threats. He said the decision represented a “real bombshell for the baseless claims that saw the light of publicity”.
He added that the decision references the complainant’s political connections and the involvement of a political figure, which adds greater significance and weight to the court’s final decision.