The Cabinet has appointed a five-member team of independent criminal investigators to examine the findings of the Independent Authority against Corruption’s report into the “Mafia State” case.
The team consists of:
- Vasilios Skouris, Professor Emeritus of Public Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and former President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, who will head the team;
- Christos Mylonopoulos, Professor Emeritus of Criminal Law at the University of Athens;
- Sotiris Liasides, a former judge;
- Nikolas Koursaris, a lawyer specialising in criminal proceedings and Vice-President of a committee of the Nicosia Bar Association;
- Dimitris Tsolakides, a criminal law lawyer and member of the Criminal Justice Committee and the Criminal Law Sub-Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association.
The decision was approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Nikos Christodoulides, and is based on the provisions of Article 4(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law.
The criminal investigators have been asked to examine the findings recorded in the Anti-Corruption Authority’s report, acting within the powers provided for under the legislation. Their term has been set at six months, with the possibility of extension following a reasoned request to the Cabinet.
The Cabinet also approved the provision of secretarial support and appropriately equipped office space, to allow the team to complete its work without hindrance.
Speaking after the meeting, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said the appointment of the independent criminal investigators was intended to ensure a full, objective and impartial investigation of the findings, with respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, the independence of institutions and the presumption of innocence.
Background
The “Mafia State” report is a two-year investigation by Cyprus’s Anti-Corruption Authority into allegations originally raised in journalist and author Makarios Drousiotis’s book of the same name.
The Authority published its findings on June 16. The book’s allegations centred on events surrounding the divorce proceedings of Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, and the report’s scope reportedly ran to around 214 sessions, 150 witnesses, roughly 3,000 pages of material and hundreds of exhibits.
Who is named
The name appearing most frequently throughout the report is former President Nicos Anastasiades, who is linked to seven separate cases examined by the Authority, ranging from the arrest of Elena Rybolovleva and the “Focus” case, to the granting of Archbishopric land, the Pandora Papers, and the citizenship-by-investment scheme. The report records allegations of possible criminal offences relating to abuse of power and influence peddling — these remain allegations attributed to the Authority’s inspectors, not established findings of guilt.
Among those named are former senior state officials, including former deputy attorney general Rikkos Erotokritou, former minister of agriculture Nikos Kouyialis, former MP Giorgos Varnava, former senior police officer Ioannis Sotiriades, former district court president Charis Solomonides, and Eva Rossidou-Papakyriacou, former head of MOKAS, as well as other legal and private sector individuals.
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