Police have confirmed that Sandy, the woman at the centre of the Drousiotis affair, has given a statement to investigators, that evidence from the case has already been sent to Europol, and that police know her current whereabouts.
The force defended the raid on lawyer Nicos Clerides’s home and office as lawful and professionally executed, police spokesperson Vyronas Vyronos told Sigma TV.
Sandy is the woman whose alleged SMS messages and account of sexual abuse and corruption involving public figures and judges were made public by Volt candidate and investigative journalist Makarios Drousiotis in a social media post last month. Nicos Clerides is her lawyer and had been in possession of approximately 1,000 SMS messages she handed him around 2019.
Officers raided Clerides’s home and office on Holy Saturday 5 April, seizing his mobile phone, USB drive and computers. Clerides described the conduct of the raid in stark terms and his legal team has filed a Supreme Court application to annul the search warrant, notified GRECO and other European bodies and written to the Attorney General demanding the return of the seized devices. Police have rejected all criticism of the raid.
“A search warrant was obtained in accordance with the prescribed procedures that exist,” Vyronos said. “We went on Saturday morning and the warrant was executed with full professionalism, and the case continues to be investigated with full seriousness.”
Police know Sandy’s whereabouts and have already taken a statement from her, Vyronos confirmed. “A statement was taken along with a number of other statements and the case is being investigated with the aim of establishing the truth,” he said. Asked whether Sandy is currently being protected, he said “all appropriate measures are being taken.”
On the Europol referral, Vyronos confirmed that communication with Europol is ongoing and that evidence has already been sent. “Some evidence has already been sent and more is expected to be sent — as to when we will have a result, that is something I cannot know at this moment,” he said.
On audio documents published by Drousiotis, Vyronos said he had no information on whether they had officially come into police possession. “We have seen that they have been circulating and we are also investigating these posts,” he said.
Vyronos described the case as “a very serious and difficult case,” adding that police are investigating all possibilities. He said the volume of evidence is very large and requires serious study. “We are hopeful that we will soon have a result and when we are ready for further announcements, you can be sure we will make them,” he said.
On the allegation that the raid violated legal professional privilege, Vyronos said safeguards were put in place to prevent access to unrelated files. “Safeguards were taken so that we would not enter any other files,” he said. Asked whether further searches would be conducted involving others implicated in the case, he said: “Where it is warranted and there is evidence, it will be done.”
Asked directly whether the raid on Clerides’s home and office was conducted because he was considered a suspect, Vyronos was clear that no one has been designated a suspect at this stage. “At the present stage we have no suspects and no witnesses. At the present stage we are collecting testimony and evidence. There was testimony on the basis of which a search warrant was obtained,” he said.
Read more: