Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou has responded to accusations by Makarios Drousiotis of political persecution and an attempt to "destroy" him over his online fundraising campaign.
The campaign was launched to cover the costs of Drousiotis' legal defence and independent forensic examinations.
"The Interior Ministry is not targeting anyone and is not seeking anyone's destruction," Ioannou said in a new statement.
According to the minister, the competent authority became aware of an ongoing fundraising campaign which, at first glance, appeared to fall within the scope of legislation regulating public collections.
"It came to the attention of the service that a fundraising campaign was being conducted which was prima facie considered to fall under the provisions of the law on public collections. As part of our duties, the Police were asked to investigate it," he said.
Ioannou stressed that referring the matter to the Police does not imply that a criminal offence has been committed, nor does it constitute a decision to prosecute.
"If the investigation finds that it does not fall within the provisions of the specific legislation, no one will be prosecuted or charged."
Το Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών δεν κυνηγά κανέναν και δεν επιδιώκει την εξόντωση κανενός. Περιήλθε στην αντίληψη της υπηρεσίας ότι διενεργείται εκστρατεία συγκέντρωσης χρημάτων, η οποία εκ πρώτης όψεως κρίθηκε ότι εμπίπτει στις πρόνοιες της νομοθεσίας περί εράνων. Καθηκόντως ζητήθηκε…
— Constantinos Ioannou (@K_Ioannou) August 11, 2026
Drousiotis' claims of persecution
Ioannou's latest intervention follows Drousiotis' strong reaction to the Interior Ministry's earlier decision to notify the Police about the fundraising drive.
Drousiotis rejected the suggestion that the online campaign constitutes a public collection under the relevant law, arguing that it is crowdfunding and that, according to legal advice he received, no permit is required.
In his response, he accused the government of pursuing him politically.
"This government is pursuing me with the criminal code in hand and seeks my destruction by every possible means," he said.
He also argued that an effort was being made to bring him before a court without the financial means necessary to secure adequate legal and scientific support.
In his latest statement, Ioannou directly rejected those allegations, insisting that the issue was referred to the Police solely through the normal institutional process and in order to determine whether the campaign falls within the scope of the legislation governing public collections.
