Nicosia, Cyprus. The Legal Service will examine whether evidence gathered during the VideoGate investigation supports possible offences involving two individuals, following a government investigator’s findings.
Investigator Andreas Paschalides identified two areas requiring further assessment, despite concluding that no offences had been established under the criminal code.
Legal assessment
The review will consider possible offences under the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption Ratification Law of 2000, including provisions on bribery, trading in influence and money laundering.
The assessment will determine whether the evidence collected during the investigation is sufficient to justify further legal action.
Black Cube response
Lawyer Antonis Demetriou, representing Black Cube’s chief executive and two company operatives involved in the undercover operation, defended the company’s actions and said it acted solely for commercial purposes, not on behalf of any state, political party or political figure.
Speaking to Politis Radio, Demetriou said police had verified the authenticity of audiovisual material submitted to investigators.
“The police certified the authenticity of the audiovisual material delivered to investigators in the VideoGate case,” he said, adding that the recordings were “neither fabricated nor false”.
He said the editing of excerpts from about 26 hours of footage did not alter their meaning.
Cooperation with investigators
Demetriou said Black Cube sought legal opinions in the Netherlands and England before conducting the operation.
He said the company’s chief executive travelled to Cyprus three times to provide statements to police, while the two operatives each gave one statement and cooperated fully with investigators.
Demetriou also said the recordings contained references to “access to the Presidential Palace”, “bypassing laws” and “financing election campaigns”, while stating that the material contained “no communication with the President of the Republic”.