Final arguments began on Monday before the Nicosia Criminal Court in the criminal case linked to the Al Jazeera investigation and the naturalisation of foreign investors, based on the findings of the Nikolatos Committee.
The prosecution and the defence of former House president Demetris Syllouris completed their closing submissions, while the defence of businessman and former MP Christakis Giovanis, represented by Giorgos Papaioannou, did not conclude and will continue on Tuesday.
Appearing for the prosecution, Charis Karaolidou accused the defendants of serious corruption offences under both the Criminal Code and the Council of Europe Convention on the criminalisation of corruption. She argued that in two investor cases - those of Nikolai Gornovskiy and Zaineh Ali Hilmi Armous - there was coordinated action aimed at influencing the naturalisation process.
Special reference was made to the Gornovskiy case, in which the prosecution said the offence of conspiracy to defraud the Republic is also established.
Karaolidou said corruption offences “strike at the very core of the integrity, impartiality and credibility of public authority” and are typically committed covertly, without direct testimony. Their proof, she added, relies on the cumulative assessment of facts which, viewed through common sense and human experience, form a “coherent and unbroken chain of evidence”.
‘They exploited their positions’
In her address, the prosecution argued that Syllouris, then president of the House, and Giovanis, then an MP and businessman, “exploited their positions to secure an improper advantage” so that the two investors could obtain Cypriot passports through the Cyprus Investment Programme.
Giovanis, the prosecution said, sought to defraud the Republic by promoting the naturalisation of an investor who did not meet the criteria, in exchange for securing property sales exceeding €2 million, and enlisted Syllouris to achieve this aim.
In the second case, involving Armous, the prosecution argued that the same mechanism was activated through an intermediary to secure a passport for the investor’s daughter, who had exceeded the age limit.
Phone calls and ‘undisputed facts’
Karaolidou listed a series of facts she said remained undisputed, including the long-standing friendship between the two defendants, Syllouris’ financial relationship with the Giovanis Group — from which he received more than €200,000 — the employment of Syllouris’ daughter by the group with earnings of €70,000, the signing of a reservation agreement in December 2018, the transfer of €2.3 million to a client account prior to Gornovskiy’s naturalisation, and the gradual release of those funds to Giovanis-linked companies after approval was granted on 5 June 2019.
Emphasis was also placed on phone interventions by Syllouris to the then permanent secretary of the interior ministry and other officials, as well as the sending of a fax from the House president’s office requesting a review of the case.
The prosecution said Syllouris’ presence at events with investors could not be viewed as socially neutral, but rather as implicit confirmation of access to the highest levels of state authority.
Concluding, Karaolidou urged the court to reach “one and only one outcome: the conviction of the defendants”.
‘A submission worthy of a novel’
Counsel for Syllouris, Chris Triantafyllides, described the prosecution’s address as “highly competent but theoretical”, accusing it of adopting a “novel-style presentation” with no substantive link to the evidence.
He argued that many of the so-called undisputed facts were not proven and claimed the proceedings amounted to an abuse of process.
Triantafyllides said that if attendance by officials at social events is treated as evidence of corruption, it would mark “a dangerous era for human relationships”. He insisted his client never sought approval of applications, but merely information on their progress.
He also accused the prosecution of attempting to lower the burden of proof from “beyond reasonable doubt” to “on the balance of probabilities”, warning that such an approach would lead justice down a dangerous path.
Syllouris, he said, “with every fibre of his being, maintains his innocence” and called on the court to acquit him of all charges.
‘The key players are missing’, argues Giovanis' defence
Giovanis’ lawyer, Giorgos Papaioannou, told the court there was “not a shred of evidence” justifying a conviction.
He rejected claims that Giovanis had enlisted Syllouris, saying there was no proof of any coordination between them in the cases at issue.
Papaioannou argued that key protagonists were absent from the proceedings, including investor Gornovskiy, service provider Andreas Pittadjis and the finance ministry.
Describing the case metaphorically, he said “the driver has disappeared and the passenger in the back seat has been brought to court”, insisting that Pittadjis played the central role in drafting and managing contracts and payments.
Giovanis’ defence will conclude on Tuesday at 9.30am, after which the court will reserve its decision.