Police say claims in Sandy case will be examined by court

Nicosia, Cyprus. Police spokesman Vyron Vyronos said claims made by the woman using the pseudonym Sandy will be examined in court, after her second written statement renewed attention on the case.

Police response

Asked by the Cyprus News Agency to comment on positions set out by Sandy through the Cyprus Times, Vyronos said the case had already been filed before the court and her claims would be assessed during proceedings.

“We have nothing else to say as the police,” he said, adding that police could not comment on the positions of any parties while the case was before the court.

Written statements

In two written interventions published by the Cyprus Times, Sandy sought to present her account of her involvement in the case and responded to claims that criminal proceedings against her and journalist Makarios Drousiotis were an attempt to silence investigative journalism.

In her first statement, she called for available data from Drousiotis’ device and accounts to be examined through lawful and independent technical means to establish the route taken by specific messages.

In her second statement, published on Thursday, Sandy said she had written messages connected to the case but maintained that they did not reflect genuine conversations or actual events. She also denied responsibility for material which she said she had neither written, said nor passed on.

Drousiotis’ statement

Drousiotis said in a social media post on Wednesday that examinations of devices and other digital material were under way with financial support from members of the public.

He said the evidence had begun to challenge what he described as the police scenario and Sandy’s account that she had fabricated the messages herself and that their content was a product of her imagination.

Separate investigation

Police are also investigating a separate criminal case following a complaint by an individual concerning a possible breach of personal data through Drousiotis’ book Mafia State.

Vyronos said that investigation remained ongoing.