Nicosia, Cyprus. The prosecution in the golden passport case said on Friday it had provided all information requested by the defence ahead of the trial, scheduled to begin on September 14 at 9.30am.
Senior prosecutor Charis Karaolidou said the prosecution had responded to all pre-trial requests in a letter dated July 20.
Defendants and charges
Former transport minister Marios Demetriades and nine co-defendants, comprising seven individuals and two legal entities, face charges including influence peddling, bribery, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and offences under the Council of Europe’s criminal law convention on corruption.
The other defendants are Andreas Demetriades, Demetris Demetriades, Giorgos Demetriades, Eleni Symillides, Jing Wang, Josef Friedrich Santin, Vasiliki Georgiou Santin, Andreas Demetriades & Co LLC and Delsk (Cyprus) Business Services Ltd.
Pre-trial clarifications
The defence sought clarification over the identity of an individual referred to in the indictment as having conspired to commit VAT fraud.
According to the defence, the prosecution said the individual was on the witness list and was not facing charges.
The matter was raised by defence lawyer Elias Stefanou, representing Andreas, Demetris and Giorgos Demetriades, Eleni Symillides, Vasiliki Georgiou Santin and Andreas Demetriades & Co LLC.
Marios Demetriades’ counsel, Petros Stavrou, separately asked whether the individual had received immunity from prosecution. According to the defence, the prosecution said no such agreement had been made.
Evidence objections
Stefanou also requested clarification on the evidence the prosecution intends to present at the hearing.
The defence said it intended to object to evidence connected with irrelevant testimony, personal communications or attorney-client privilege.
