30.12.2023
Former President of the House of Representatives Demetris Syllouris and former Member of Parliament for Akel Christakis Giovanis pleaded not guilty to five charges read to them at the Nicosia Criminal Court on Friday. The allegations relate to corruption following the release of an Al Jazeera documentary about Cyprus’ controversial citizens-for-investment scheme.
Currently Syllouris , Giovanis and senior member of Giovanis Group Antonis Antoniou faces trial related to the findings of the Nikolatos report , which was carried out after the documentary Al Jazeera .
Antoniou , who is currently abroad, will make a statement in court on January 18 at 9:30 am.
He is now represented by lawyer Andreas Pittadjis , who was also initially under investigation along with three other defendants.
In October, all charges against Pittadgis were dropped, and he went from being an accused to being António’s lawyer .
During Friday’s hearing, the court also rejected objections raised by Giovanis ‘ lawyer George Papaioannou , who argued that the charges were not based on any existing law.
The presiding judge said there was no need to rule on the constitutionality of the charges, and Papaioannou later dissented and told the court he reserved the right to raise the issue at a later stage in the proceedings.
Syllouris’ lawyer Chris Triantafyllides also agreed with Papaioannou , saying he too could raise an objection in due course.
Pittagis and Triantafyllides told the court that they would submit a written request to the attorney general asking for the release of witness material and transcripts used in the preparation of the Nikolatos report .
