Cypriot authorities are awaiting the results of a forensic examination being carried out by Europol on mobile phones and text messages collected by police as part of the ongoing investigation into the ‘Sandy’ case. According to information available, preliminary answers may emerge next week. However, the mobile phone which ‘Sandy’ claims she used to create the disputed messages has yet to be located, raising doubts over whether Europol will be able to reach definitive conclusions on the authenticity or fabrication of the evidence.
The missing phone
Journalistic sources say that ‘Sandy’ told police she handed the phone in question to an employee at the law office of lawyer Nikos Clerides for safekeeping. That employee was subsequently called to give a statement and denied ever receiving a mobile phone from the woman. Clerides himself has also rejected her claim.
The disputed phone appears to have been the key item authorities were seeking when police carried out a search of Clerides’ premises on Easter Saturday.
Meanwhile, further reports indicate that Clerides’ lawyers intend to file an application early next week, possibly on Monday or Tuesday, seeking the issuance of a writ of certiorari to annul the search warrant executed by police on Easter Saturday morning. Clerides said earlier this week that officers found nothing incriminating during the search.
Senior officials may be questioned
According to a report published yesterday by Phileleftheros, citing sources familiar with the investigators’ actions, the inquiry is not limited to ‘Sandy’ and Nikos Clerides. The report said that senior officials may also be called to give statements, based on allegations contained in the messages under examination, which refer to alleged criminal conduct.
Police Chief Themistos Arnaoutis, in his first public comments on the case on Thursday, said investigations are not being conducted to confirm any narrative but to establish the truth, stressing that no one is above the law.
Germany claim disputed
On Thursday, investigative journalist Makarios Drousiotis again accused the authorities of attempting a cover-up. He said that “for ten days now, the police have been working feverishly to prove that what I highlighted in my initial publication is a product of my imagination”. He added that “the government has mobilised all means at its disposal to ridicule me personally”.
Drousiotis also sought to challenge the position, reflected in the police affidavit, that ‘Sandy’ did not travel to Germany. He published audio messages purportedly involving a conversation between the woman and journalist Stelios Orphanides “upon her arrival in Heidelberg”.
The photograph issue
Drousiotis then addressed a photograph showing a scar on a hand, which he circulated in recent days to support his claim that the messages were genuine. The image was later shown to have been sourced from the internet.
According to Drousiotis, it appears that ‘Sandy’ herself used images taken from the internet in her messages. “I do not know,” he said, “why she chose to support the events she described with these specific photographs.”
He maintained, however, that “the messages referring to injuries appear to have been sent when she was seeking help from the recipient”. He said he fully understands “her vulnerable position, her confusion, her need to be believed and to secure the help she desperately sought, when she feared for her life and the future of her children”.
Drousiotis insisted that “the basis of my investigation is the content of the messages, which contain significant information requiring criminal investigation”. “It is the substance of that information which must be examined,” he added.
Unprecedented case, says lawyer
Lawyer Christoforos Christofi described the case as unprecedented, saying that for the first time such serious offences, including bribery and corruption, are being attributed to former senior judicial officials.
Speaking on the Politis radio programme ‘Morning Review’ (107.6 and 97.6), Christofi said that despite the gravity of the allegations, no tangible evidence has been presented beyond screenshots of messages. He raised concerns over violations of the presumption of innocence, arguing that the manner in which the allegations were made public has effectively reversed the burden of proof, with those implicated being forced to demonstrate their innocence.
He also questioned both the adequacy of the investigation carried out prior to publication and the timing of the disclosures, noting that Drousiotis is a parliamentary candidate.
Regarding the search warrant executed at the premises of Nikos Clerides, Christofi said it breached lawyer-client privilege in an unacceptable manner. He argued that police failed to provide adequate safeguards ensuring that material seized related strictly to the specific case under investigation. He reiterated calls for the appointment of independent criminal investigators, even at this stage.
Volt calls for independent probe
Volt co-leader Andromachi Sofokleous said the party has never adopted any of the claims made in the ‘Sandy’ case, stressing that “we never believed we could play detectives or endorse an investigation we did not conduct ourselves”.
She rejected suggestions that the party had been gripped by internal tensions due to the involvement of one of its candidates in the case, saying Volt adopted a purely institutional position from the outset, which it would have taken regardless of whether Makarios Drousiotis was a party candidate.
“We are asking the state and the police to handle the matter,” Sofokleous said. She added, however, that it is difficult to conclude that police are managing the case transparently or in a way that addresses all potential aspects. She reiterated Volt’s position in favour of appointing an independent criminal investigative committee.