The hearing of the golden passport criminal case involving Al Jazeera news report, for which three people are facing charges, has been postponed for January 13, 2025.
Former House president Demetris Syllouris, former AKEL MP Christakis Giovanis and senior lawyer for the Giovanis Group Antonis Antoniou are facing charges, including conspiracy to subvert the Republic and influencing a public official in violation of the laws criminalising corruption.
The defendants appeared before Nicosia criminal court on Monday, which postponed the proceedings, pending a list of evidence, which is expected to be delivered within the next ten days.
Philenews reported the case was postponed due to the pending hearing into the Demetroui murder, in which some of the same people are litigants. Demetroui, 34, died of gunshot wound complications a month after an attempt on his life on April 23.
After what was shown in the Al Jazeera report, the court proceeded with the trial based on the findings of the Nicolatos inquiry.
In August 2020, the Al Jazeera news network aired a report – dubbed The Cyprus Papers – on the island’s citizenship-by-investment programme based on an investigation of “more than 1,400 leaked documents”.
The network said Cyprus had been granting citizenships to dubious individuals, a claim fiercely rejected at the time by the government.
Al Jazeera aired an undercover video showing Syllouris and Giovanis offering to help a pretend Chinese businessman with a criminal record secure citizenship.
The pair were forced to resign as the government hastily terminated the programme.
The defendants will appear before the court on December 16 at 9.30am when the trial’s course will be planned.
During Monday’s hearing, the defendants’ lawyers said they intended to admit certain facts into evidence to speed things up, namely 16 of the 32 witnesses.
Lawyer Andreas Pittadjis, who was the fourth person charged, was acquitted on October 11, 2023. He is now appearing in court as Antoniou’s lawyer.
