Lawyer Nicos Clerides launched a sharp attack on police and the authorities on Wednesday, following the Supreme Court's decision to grant leave for a certiorari application to quash the search warrant executed against him, calling the searches unlawful and unacceptable and suggesting that evidence in the Sandy case may have been suppressed.
Speaking on Omega television, Clerides said the Supreme Court's ruling was clear and well-reasoned, having established that there was no reasonable cause for the lengthy searches carried out at his home and office on Holy Saturday, which were conducted on the basis of the testimony of the woman referred to as Sandy.
He said that if the authorities had genuinely wanted to investigate the case properly, they should have immediately secured search warrants against those implicated in the case, not against those who revealed information about it. He also questioned the effectiveness of allowing implicated individuals to hand over their mobile phones voluntarily rather than conducting unannounced checks.
Sandy's phone and the state of the investigation
Clerides drew particular attention to Sandy's mobile phone, which he described as critical to any proper investigation of the case. He said the phone remains unaccounted for, which in his view demonstrates that police mishandled the case from the outset. He accused the authorities of using the search of his personal files as an attempt to "fish" for evidence without adequate grounds, and cast doubt on the credibility of the key witness, saying her four statements contain contradictions.
He warned that the way the investigation is proceeding resembles an attempt to find "a black cat in a dark room," and expressed fears that significant evidence may already have been lost or destroyed.
Call for independent investigators
Clerides said the only solution at this point is the appointment of independent criminal investigators, in order to preserve the credibility of the institutions and prevent public suspicion that a cover-up is being attempted.
On the disputed text messages, he said he considers some of them "100% authentic," stating that he has personal knowledge and confirmed information that certain messages fully correspond to the truth. He stopped short of making the same claim about all of the messages.
