Nicosia, Cyprus. Former central prison director Anna Aristotelous and seven other defendants pleaded not guilty on Tuesday at the Nicosia criminal court to charges linked to the alleged leaking of classified documents.
Charges and alleged stolen items
The charges against the eight defendants include conspiracy to commit a felony and theft of state property involving no fewer than 48,432 documents. They also face charges related to the theft of 370 architectural plans of the prison building and the theft of 431 other items, including digital discs and electronic devices. Some defendants additionally face charges of abuse of power.
Dispute over access to evidence
In court, defence lawyers said they had not been given copies of the architectural plans and argued the plans were not classified documents. Prosecution lawyer Anna Mattheou said an email was sent to all defence lawyers last Friday stating copies of all relevant documents had been prepared and providing details of the police officers from whom the defence could collect needed documents.
Mattheou said the only pending item of evidence was CCTV footage from the prison compound, prepared on Monday. She also said copies of classified documents would not be delivered to defence lawyers and that they would instead be able to inspect them at the police civil investigation department headquarters.
Next hearing date
Aristotelous’ lawyer, Christos Triantafyllides, requested that a specific date be set for the defence to inspect the plans. The next court hearing is scheduled for March 26.
Origin of the investigation
The documents were found during a search of a prison warden’s home on April 10 last year. The search was part of an investigation into an alleged scam involving a convict buying items from the prison canteen and selling them to other inmates at an inflated price.
What evidence will be available for the defence to review before the March 26 hearing?
