Police have launched a new criminal investigation involving journalist Makarios Drousiotis, according to claims he made in a post on X.
Drousiotis said the investigation concerns his book Mafia State and the handling of personal data. According to him, it began two months after the Anti-Corruption Authority submitted its findings.
He described it as the second criminal case opened against him, following his referral to the Assize Court over the “Santi” case.
Investigation involves book contributors
Drousiotis said the Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Department had also sought statements from people involved in producing the book, including its printer, editor and designer.
The journalist accused the authorities of criminalising investigative journalism and expressed serious concern about the wider implications of the investigation.
Drousiotis’s full statement
“The masks are off. Following my referral to the Assize Court on a charge of spreading false news in the ‘Santi’ case, the police have now opened a second criminal case against me over Mafia State.
“Four years after the book was published, and just two months after the Anti-Corruption Authority submitted its findings, they are investigating a case involving personal data.
“The Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Department, the same unit that ‘investigated’ the Santi case, sought statements even from the printer who printed the book, its editor and its designer. This is an attempt to intimidate my associates.
“The tolerance shown by the political establishment and the journalistic community towards the criminalisation of investigative journalism has emboldened the corrupt system of power to the point where criminal investigations are now being conducted into books.
“We are now living in dark times. Every democratically minded citizen has a duty to react, and the journalistic community must take a stand.
“This is not an issue that concerns me alone. It concerns society as a whole, freedom of expression, transparency and accountability. It concerns the rule of law, which is becoming an endangered species in Cyprus today.”
