Valeri Tarapai, a parliamentary candidate for Direct Democracy in the Kyrenia district, admitted that she had been arrested by Turkish Cypriot ‘police’ in the north for drug trafficking and sentenced to three years in prison.
Speaking to philenews on Monday, Tarapai said she had made a mistake but argued that she had been treated unfairly because she was only 19 at the time and had not been protected. She said: “It is true that I was in possession of drugs, but the three‑year prison sentence does not stand, since we do not recognise the laws in the occupied areas, as we have also seen recently with the Greek Cypriots who were arrested.” She added that she served two years and was released early for good behaviour.
She insisted that she has a clean criminal record in the Republic of Cyprus and has never had any issues with the police in the government‑controlled areas.
However, Turkish Cypriot media report that Tarapai was arrested in 2017 at the age of 21 along with a Greek Cypriot. According to those reports, police found 170 grams of cannabis in the vehicle they were travelling in and an additional 10 grams on Tarapai. The same reports say that during questioning, both suspects admitted they were transporting the drugs to a specific individual in the north in exchange for €1,400.
Allegations
Earlier, DIKO party leader Nicolas Papadopoulos made serious allegations regarding three parliamentary candidates of Direct Democracy in a written statement posted on social media.
Papadopoulos claimed that one of the candidates on the list of MEP Fidias Panayiotou “has been arrested for drug trafficking in the occupied areas”. He added that a second person “is under investigation for obtaining money under false pretences”, and a third “deceived hundreds of investors during the stock market period and took their money”. He questioned whether “these are the new ethics they were talking about” and whether “these are the people who will decide the future of our children”.
Internal party matters
Direct Democracy’s 56 candidates held an online meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss organisational issues, including the appointment of a party spokesperson.
According to information obtained by Politis, decisions will be taken after the party elects its president. Four to five individuals have expressed interest in the position. The same information indicates that the presidency is being contested by MEP Fidias Panayiotou and Diana Konstantinidi, who topped the vote in the Nicosia district and is also a parliamentary candidate. Panayiotou is widely regarded as the frontrunner.
The internal elections will take place between 19 and 21 March through the AGORA app, following the same method used in the party’s candidate‑selection process.