“I honestly cannot understand what Makarios Drousiotis and Averof Neofytou are trying to achieve with claims that I proposed Giorgos Savvides for Attorney General,” former AKEL general secretary Andros Kyprianou told politis.com.cy, adding that “Makarios Drousiotis lied when he said that Myron Nikolatos suggested him to me so that I would propose him.”
“The appointment of independent officials,” he said, “is a right that belongs exclusively to the President of the Republic.” He added that “it is very well known that AKEL disagreed with the appointment of Ionas Nicolaou to the post of Attorney General.”
Kyprianou said that in 2019 he had submitted, on behalf of AKEL, a bill to the House of Representatives providing that a sitting president could not appoint as Attorney General a senior party official or a minister who had served in his government. The proposal, he said, was rejected by the other parties.
“When Nikos Anastasiades was going to appoint an Attorney General,” he said, “we stated publicly, as AKEL, that we would react strongly to any possible appointment of Ionas Nicolaou.” Following a decision by AKEL’s Secretariat, he added, “I conveyed this position to the President of the Republic.”
Kyprianou went on to say that “Drousiotis is lying when he says Anastasiades did me a favour by appointing Giorgos Savvides”. At the time, he said, “we were in strong confrontation with Nikos Anastasiades, both over his reference to two states in the Cyprus problem and over corruption issues.”
“I repeat,” he concluded, “that the matter of these appointments falls under the exclusive authority of the President of the Republic. I therefore wonder what purpose these references serve. In particular, I do not understand what Mr Drousiotis is trying to imply with what he is saying.”
‘I appointed Savvides’
On Wednesday, researcher and Volt parliamentary candidate Makarios Drousiotis said that “the Police are calling in anyone whose name appears in the messages, taking a statement from them saying they had no involvement, and then they also make statements to the press”.
“Among them,” he added, “is Andros Kyprianou, who denies having had any role in the appointment of Giorgos Savvides, even though he told me: ‘I appointed Savvides’.”
Drousiotis said Kyprianou’s role in the selection of Savvides “has been part of public debate and there are relevant reports”. He added that “Savvides himself indirectly confirmed it in an interview with Legal Matters, as did Anastasiades”.
He then referred to another police witness, Kostis Efstathiou, saying that Efstathiou had claimed police showed him a message that was not his. Drousiotis added that Efstathiou said the details of the message were linked to Epic, while he had always been a Cyta subscriber.
“The Epic subscription,” Drousiotis said, “points to the recipient’s device, not the sender’s.” However, he added, “willing media outlets declared this message fake too.”
Drousiotis went on to say:
“The Police also brought in scientific associates, not to confirm the content, but to question its authenticity. Initially under the guise of independent experts and, more recently, as the result of... ‘journalistic investigation’.
“I am one person on my own, with a few friends, and I am up against the entire system of power and an army of willing participants who reproduce police disinformation.
“People have become confused and tired. I would be happy if this investigation were conducted along the lines of the team that investigated Kratos Mafia, without leaks, without statements, without sabotage. The system does not trust an independent procedure. It fears it.
“The communication battle is unequal. But I am obliged to continue defending, with whatever strength I have, my dignity and the truth, which will prevail in the end.
“Anyone who has doubts or questions and wants answers is welcome to submit them next Wednesday, 6 May, at 19:00, at the Discovery Amphitheatre at the University of Nicosia.”