The third of four “golden passport” cases brought to court has entered its final stage. This is the so-called Al Jazeera case, triggered by the network’s undercover reporting into how foreign investors could obtain Cypriot passports.
Former House President Demetris Syllouris and former AKEL MP Christakis Giovanis remain on the charge sheet. At yesterday’s hearing, defence counsel Chris Triantafyllides, representing the first defendant, had been due to argue an abuse-of-process objection. He withdrew the objection, and the court adjourned with the evidentiary hearing formally closed.
Both sides (defence and the Prosecution) will now prepare their closing arguments. With the record complete, the Assize Court will deliver its decision in due course. Initially, two additional defendants, lawyer Andreas Pittadjis and Antonis Antoniou, an executive at Mr Giovanis’s company, also faced charges. Mr Pittadjis was discharged during proceedings and went on to represent Mr Antoniou. Later, owing to the inability to summon specific prosecution witnesses, charges against Mr Antoniou were also withdrawn, leaving only Messrs Syllouris and Giovanis before the court.
The court has already ruled there is a case to answer on all counts and called on the defendants to present their defence. That ruling does not predetermine the final outcome.
Notably, in the first two passport-related cases, defendants were not found guilty on the naturalisation charges.
The first case
Heard at the Larnaca Assize Court, the first case concerned the naturalisation of three Iranian nationals and involved five individuals and four legal entities. Filed in May 2021, it ended on 4 November 2022 with acquittals on all 36 counts. The matter had featured extensively in the findings of the ad hoc Kalogirou Committee.
The Salem case
The second case saw the Assize Court acquit seven defendants on all naturalisation-related issues tied to the exceptional citizenship of Mohamed Mohamed Abdelrahman Mohamed Salem, his son Abdelrahman Mohamed Salem Bahaa, and his daughter Esraa Mohamed Abdelrahman Mohamed Salem. The applications, between 24 November 2017 and 13 November 2018, were presented as meeting the €2,000,000 investment threshold set by the Council of Ministers on 13 September 2016. Defendants included Photos Tsangarides, Michalis Zavos, Michalis Michael, and the companies Larina Estates, PhC Tsangarides LLC, Fullserve Secretarial Ltd, and Elli Michailidou. The indictment carried 18 counts in total. Two defendants were nevertheless convicted on six tax-related charges. The Prosecution has filed an appeal.
Demetriades and others
The fourth pending case lists eight individuals and two legal entities: Marios Demetriades, Andreas Demetriades, Dimitris Demetriades, Giorgos Demetriades, Eleni Simillidi, Jing Wang, Josef Friedrich Santin, Vasiliki Georgiou-Santin, Andreas Demetriades & Co LLC, and Delsk (Cyprus) Business Services Ltd. The indictment contains 59 charges, including conspiracy to defraud, corruption, and money laundering. The trial is at an early stage before the Nicosia Assize Court, and all defendants have pleaded not guilty.