Nicosia, Cyprus. Prosecutors in the central prison missing files case handed 1,116 of 2,900 documents to the defence during proceedings at Nicosia criminal court. The documents had not been previously delivered because they were marked classified.
Documents submitted and next hearing date
The remaining documents will be reviewed through procedures set by the court. The next hearing will be held at 9am on June 9.
Prosecution details on classified material
On Tuesday, prosecution representative Anna Mattheou said the classified documents had been saved on three hard disks and included central prison maps and blueprints, as well as correspondence between lawyers and clients.
Defence objections over classification and format
Chris Triantafyllides, defence lawyer for former prison chief Anna Aristotelous, objected, saying the prosecution should prove that the documents were classified, as access to them could place lives or fundamental rights of individuals at risk, as well as national interest. He also said national security documents should be submitted to the court as hard copies and not in digital form.
Defence concerns over exemptions and document reliability
The defence said it was “unlikely” that the documents were covered by exemptions for classified material and referred to a “parody” and “unreasonable and illegal restrictions”. Triantafyllides also questioned the reliability of scanned documents, saying they could be modified.
Prosecution response
The prosecution assured the defence that the documents had not been modified during scanning and said submitting thousands of hard copies was not the best practice at this stage.
What do you think should be required to verify whether documents are legitimately classified in court proceedings?