Nicosia, Cyprus. Reports on Tuesday said the prospect of appointing an independent criminal investigator to examine allegations by journalist Makarios Drousiotis is now “out of the question”. The Cyprus News Agency reported the idea has been “definitively closed”.
Government stance and ongoing investigation
According to the Cyprus News Agency, Justice Minister Costas Fitiris and the rest of the cabinet are “not intervening” in the investigating process. The agency also reported that “no further intervention is required from the government” in the case.
Police are awaiting reports from the European Union agency for law enforcement (Europol) and the United States’ federal bureau of investigations (FBI), while continuing their own investigations at the same time. Once investigations are complete, the file will be handed to the legal service, which will then examine all the information at its disposal before deciding on its own next steps.
The agency reported that Europol’s findings are expected to be handed over to the Cypriot authorities “in the coming days”, and that the FBI’s report is “also pending”.
Allegations and responses
Drousiotis’ allegations centre on a 45-year-old woman, known only as ‘Sandy’, whom he claims was raped and stabbed by former supreme court judge Michalakis Christodoulou. He also alleges that Christodoulou fathered three of ‘Sandy’s’ children.
Christodoulou has denied the allegations, saying he had “acted like a father” to ‘Sandy’. Other figures named by Drousiotis, including former Edek MEP Demetris Papadakis and Edek deputy leader Morfakis Solomonides, have also denied allegations that they “acted on the behest of Christodoulou as informants and interlocutors”.
Phileleftheros reporting
Newspaper Phileleftheros has insisted that Drousiotis’ accusations do not correspond with reality. The newspaper has previously reported that ‘Sandy’ has one child, whose father is not Christodoulou, and that Gesy and social insurance records show that she worked continuously in Cyprus between 2001 and 2023, ruling out the possibility of her having spent an extended period of time in Germany as Drousiotis has claimed.
What do you think the next steps should be once the legal service reviews the investigation file?