The Supreme Court is set to examine at noon today the Attorney General’s application to lift the parliamentary immunity of EDEK MP Marinos Sizopoulos, in order for him to be questioned over alleged corruption-related offences. Sizopoulos has denied all allegations from the outset. Reports indicate he intends to file an objection.
According to the Legal Service of the Republic, a criminal investigation was deemed necessary following a report issued by the Anti-Corruption Authority and submitted to Attorney General George Savvides on 11 September 2025. The report recommends investigation into possible offences including fraud, forgery and uttering a forged document, circulation of a forged document and conspiracy to defraud.
The investigation and the findings
The Anti-Corruption Authority launched its investigation after assessing complaints submitted by former EDEK MP Giorgos Varnavas. For the purposes of the inquiry, the Authority appointed two inspectors: former judge Sotiris Liasis and lawyer Nikolas Constantinou.
In his complaint, Varnavas referred to the company Taxan Properties Developers Ltd, through which an Iraqi investor obtained a so-called “golden passport”. At the relevant time, Marinos Sizopoulos was a shareholder in the company through IO Ktimatiki Ltd, where he served as director.
Taxan Properties Developers Ltd had a non-performing loan of €2,581,000 with a banking institution. The bank proposed writing off €956,000 of the debt, on condition that the remaining balance would be repaid within a specified timeframe.
According to Varnavas’ complaint, Sizopoulos and his three partners in Taxan Properties, in an effort to settle the company’s debt, sold the company’s sole asset, a residential plot of 10 donums in Aradippou, together with the company itself, to the Iraqi investor for the purpose of obtaining a golden passport. The investment amounted to €2,025,000.
However, a second contract, considered forged according to the findings, was allegedly submitted to the bank stating that the investment amounted to €1.6 million, with the aim of deceiving the bank and paying a lower amount than the original debt.
The conclusion of the Anti-Corruption Authority’s report states that “the use of the contract dated 17/10/2017 was intended to mislead the bank and secure financial gain”, specifically a 37 per cent reduction of the non-performing loan and the removal of the shareholders as guarantors.
Sizopoulos maintains innocence
From the outset, Marinos Sizopoulos has publicly rejected the allegations attributed to him in the Authority’s report. If, as he states, he is innocent, he is expected to facilitate the process before the Supreme Court for the lifting of his immunity.
The criminal investigation is considered necessary to determine who was responsible for the alleged forged document on the basis of which Sizopoulos and his former partners secured a €956,000 reduction of the outstanding loan.
The central question remains whether Sizopoulos had knowledge of the document, which the Authority considers forged, or whether he was misled by a former associate, as he claims.
Equality before the law
In its recent decision lifting the immunity of DISY MP Nikos Syka, the Supreme Court emphasised that “the principles of the rule of law dictate equality before the law” and that “all are equal before the law, irrespective of status”.
The Court also noted that the offences under investigation in Syka’s case bore no connection to his political or parliamentary duties.
Previous cases of immunity lifted
To date, following applications by the Attorney General, the Supreme Court has lifted the immunity of five MPs to allow investigation and prosecution for criminal offences unrelated to their parliamentary duties:
- The most recent case concerns DISY MP Nikos Syka. On 15 January 2026, the Supreme Court lifted his immunity to allow full investigation into allegations of assault against his partner, who later withdrew her complaint. The criminal investigation remains ongoing.
- On 10 February 2016, the Court lifted the immunity of DISY MP, now independent, Andreas Themistocleous for traffic offences. He was later fined and had his driving licence suspended for six months by the Nicosia District Court.
- In February 2015, the Court lifted the immunity of EDEK MP Feidias Sarikas to allow investigation into bribery, corruption and abuse of power offences committed during his tenure as Mayor of Paphos. He was later sentenced by the Paphos Assize Court to four years’ imprisonment for bribes received from contractors involved in projects of the Paphos Sewerage Board.
- In 1984, the Supreme Court lifted the immunity of DISY MP and lawyer Giorgos Georgiou, who was subsequently convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for forgery.
- In 1961, the Court lifted the immunity of Patriotic Front MP Lefkios Rodosthenous, who was convicted and imprisoned for extorting money from a citizen.