A woman named in connection with allegations made public by journalist and Volt parliamentary candidate Makarios Drousiotis was smuggled to a European country with the assistance of an embassy in Nicosia for her protection after speaking about allegations of sexual abuse and the existence of compromising communications involving public figures, according to sources.
The intervention involved a lawyer, and the embassy took action after it was determined she required protection.
Lawyer Nikos Clerides, who represents Sandy, told Philenews she was also hosted on several occasions at a property worth millions in a well-known resort and that she has photographs documenting this.
Sandy approached Clerides after 2018, when he had publicly made allegations against bankers and judges. “She came to me frightened and handed over a large number of SMS messages, photographs and other material,” Clerides said. “She was very guarded and told me what she had experienced.” Because the material was extremely serious, he said, he considered it appropriate to hand it to the then-president of the Cyprus Bar Association, Christos Clerides.
According to what Sandy told Clerides, she alleged she was raped from the age of 12 or 13 by an unnamed individual whose daughter she was friends with. She allegedly became pregnant; the child did not survive.
She subsequently became pregnant again and, according to what she told Clerides, named a different person as the father at that time.
Clerides said he verified certain facts relating to the former wife and father of the person Sandy names, describing these as matters that could be confirmed through research. He added that DNA testing could prove or disprove the core allegations.
The material Sandy handed over includes dozens of SMS messages allegedly intercepted from the phone of a former judge, Clerides said. The messages involve political figures, large law firms and significant sums of money.
Clerides also alleged that while Sandy was abroad, a lawyer travelled to meet her and pressured her to return. “That says a lot to me,” he said.
Clerides said he sent the SMS messages to specialists abroad who confirmed they are genuine. He disputed the former judge’s claim of having met Sandy in 2020, saying the material in his possession relates to an earlier period and that he became aware of it in 2019.
On the investigation, Clerides said the matter should be referred directly to GRECO and that an independent expert should be appointed to examine and verify whether the SMS messages are genuine. He opposed the appointment of foreign investigators, saying he had already submitted the material to an international anti-corruption organisation for verification.
Sandy contacted Clerides yesterday and said she does not wish to testify and has asked for her name to be protected. She is currently married and living in Cyprus. Clerides said he does not know whether she will change her mind now that the matter has become more widely known and her name has been made public by the former judge.
If asked by police, Clerides said he will cooperate fully. “Of course I will testify. I will give them all the material I have and say everything I know,” he said.
All allegations in this piece are unverified claims attributed to Nikos Clerides and Philenews sources.
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