The Anti-Corruption Authority is expected next week to send Attorney General George Savvides a detailed mandate for its investigation into the black spy van case. The document will set out the subject of the inquiry and the political figures the authority intends to examine. It will also cover the complaint concerning Assistant Attorney General Savvas Angelides.
Scope of the investigation
The authority has already decided to assign the investigation to a team of three lawyer-investigators: two British and one Cypriot.
It also intends to examine claims in “Cyprus: The Navel of Surveillance”, a recent book by journalist Fanis Makrides. The authority announced this in a written statement on 14 September 2026. Among other things, the book refers to political figures allegedly linked to the black van case. It also describes their relations with the van’s owner, Tal Dilian, and his other Israeli associates in Cyprus.
The House Legal Affairs Committee held debates on the case in November 2022 and June 2023. During these, references were made to parties and political figures who were allegedly cooperating with Dilian. Those references were not investigated further.
Attorney general’s position
In recent remarks to the House of Representatives, Savvides said he had never prevented the Anti-Corruption Authority from investigating Angelides.
“(…) It is inconceivable that we are discussing whether a complaint made to the Anti-Corruption Authority in 2023 could have been included in my reply to the authority, in which I said that the investigation carried out by the police covered the period 2019-2021,” he said.
“So not only was there no reference to the assistant attorney general in the letter sent by the authority, to which I replied, but clearly the police could not have investigated a 2023 complaint in an investigation completed in 2021. Therefore, the answer is that the authority has every right to decide to investigate whatever it wants. The attorney general has no right to stop the launch of any investigation.”
Legal framework and the 2021 investigation
Under the law governing the Anti-Corruption Authority, the authority must consult the attorney general before opening an investigation. The aim is to establish whether the police or an independent criminal investigator is already looking into the same matter, and so avoid parallel investigations into the same facts.
The criminal investigation into the black van was completed in 2021. That year, independent criminal investigator and criminal lawyer Elias Stephanou submitted a lengthy report to the Law Office of the Republic. Its contents remain confidential to this day.
The authority does not hold the Stephanou report. It therefore does not know exactly which aspects of the case the earlier investigation covered and which may have been left out. For this reason, it will send its proposed terms of reference to the attorney general, to find out whether those aspects have already been examined.
The authority also intends to examine matters that came to light after the criminal investigation ended in 2021. The course of the investigation and its findings will determine whether further aspects of the case need to be examined.
The Audit Office complaint
On Dilian’s dealings with state services, the authority already holds information identified and recorded by Audit Office officials. The findings were included in a confidential report, which then Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides forwarded to the authority for investigation on 10 May 2023.
The report includes a complaint of a possible conflict of interest involving Angelides. The complaint had been submitted to the Audit Office by an unknown person. The Audit Office forwarded it to the authority exactly as received, because it had neither the remit nor the necessary means and access to investigate it.
In forwarding the material, the Audit Office sought, among other things, an investigation into why state services cooperated with Dilian’s companies or bought services from them. It also sought to establish whether citizens, politicians and state officials had been unlawfully monitored.
Dilian’s conviction in Athens
The case has taken on a new dimension following Dilian’s recent conviction at first instance in Athens. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for monitoring the telephone conversations of ministers, party leaders, state officials, military personnel and others. Dilian has appealed, seeking to have the conviction overturned.
Audit Office findings
The Audit Office referred publicly to the complaint only once, in a press release on 22 May 2023, in which it spoke of “very serious findings”.
“Our office had received a complaint containing allegations concerning the conduct of the assistant attorney general in the black van case. This matter does not fall within our office’s remit,” the statement read.
“However, while examining aspects of the complaint in order to verify certain information before forwarding it to the Anti-Corruption Authority, issues arose concerning procurement contracts with the state, on which we have very serious findings. The whole package, namely the original complaint and our own findings, was sent to the authority on 10 May 2023. We do not intend to say anything further about this case, as it concerns classified public contracts.”
Response by Savvas Angelides
Angelides has categorically rejected the allegations against him. In a written statement on 10 August 2022, he said:
“As regards the repeated, unscrupulous allegations made against me of a connection with Mr Tal Dilian, I state unequivocally that these are unfounded allegations bordering on mudslinging, whose ultimate aim is to harm the Law Office of the Republic and myself.”
Questions before the authority
The investigation is expected to examine in depth:
- the aspects of the complaint forwarded by the Audit Office
- the questions raised in public debate
- the references, both in parliament and in Makrides’ book, to Dilian’s contacts and cooperation with political figures in Cyprus
It is also expected to clarify the relations between Dilian’s companies and state services, including the police. According to information submitted to the House, the police were among his companies’ clients. Examining the relevant contracts, and the circumstances in which they were awarded, may help establish the nature and extent of this cooperation.
The inquiry is also expected to establish which aspects of the case have been investigated and which remain open. This bears on the handling of the case by the two heads of the Law Office, Savvides and Angelides, who decided to suspend the criminal prosecution of Dilian and his associates.
