Nicosia, Cyprus. A lawyer representing Mafia State author Makarios Drousiotis said on Monday that the report, witness testimonies and evidence gathered in the investigation into the book should not have been handed over to the cabinet and the police.
Claims over handling of investigation material
Speaking on state television, lawyer Lito Kariolou said the transfer of all investigation material by the Legal Council, which was set up to administer the case after the recusal of the attorney-general and the deputy attorney-general, “constitutes an institutional collapse.”
She said the Legal Council, made up of senior counsel from the Legal Service, received the content of the investigation, including evidence and minutes, and gave it in its entirety, along with all other documents, to the police and the Council of Ministers.
“When we are talking about the paralysis of the institutions, this is what we mean,” she said on the state broadcaster.
Concerns over witness testimony
Kariolou said inspecting officers had secured testimony from people who had never testified to Cyprus police before and who possibly were not prepared to testify before police.
Asked whether she feared testimony and witness statements could be leaked by police, she said, “the police are involved; in several chapters of the investigation, we had serious problems with actions of the police.”
She also said the cabinet should not have been given the report.
“The witnesses testified only after being given clear assurances from the inspecting officers that the procedure would remain absolutely confidential,” she said.
Kariolou did not explain how she knew that such assurances of absolute confidentiality had been given to people who appeared before the investigative committee.
Objections to cabinet access
Kariolou said she had a “huge problem” with the Council of Ministers having the investigation report in its entirety.
“In this way and the administering of the matter, witnesses and testimony were exposed irreparably to possible dangers. Witness testimony that should have been protected, has been exposed for half a month, at the mercy of suspects,” she said.