Nicosia court to issue prima facie ruling in cocaine case on October 16

Nicosia, Cyprus. The Nicosia criminal court is expected to issue a prima facie ruling on October 16 in the case against Georgios Christodoulou Zavrantonas, who is accused of possessing 15 kilograms of cocaine. Proceedings concluded on Friday.

Prima facie ruling

The ruling will determine whether Zavrantonas is culpable of a crime. Further hearings would then be held to determine the exact nature of any offences committed and the severity of any sentence.

Arguments over witness testimony

Defence lawyers argued on Friday that a key prosecution witness, Yiannis Andreou, had given testimony that was “so contradictory and unlawful” that Zavrantonas should not be required to testify.

Defence lawyer Christos Poutziouris said Andreou had “adopted a specific version of events” in earlier testimony before later stating that the account he had given was “not true”.

Prosecution spokesman Vasilis Bissas said the prosecution would not comment at this stage and would instead argue for the validity of Andreou’s statement during the final evaluation of the case. The prosecution said the credibility of witnesses should be examined only at that stage.

Previous convictions and retrial

Zavrantonas, 49, was sentenced in 1999 to concurrent prison terms of 12 years for homicide, six years for carrying a pistol, seven years for using a pistol and two years for possessing explosives without a licence.

In 2005, he received a seven-year sentence for cultivating a Class B drug with intent to supply. In 2010, he was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to commit murder and four years for conspiracy to commit a felony.

In 2014, he was sentenced to five years for possessing explosives without a licence, four years for causing grievous bodily harm and seven years for transporting a firearm. He was later sentenced to 22 years for cocaine possession in 2022.

In May, the court of appeal ordered a retrial. Poutziouris argued at the time that the court which initially convicted Zavrantonas was not his “natural” court because the composition of its judges had changed.