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Yiannaki pleads not guilty to eight charges of forgery (Updated)

former volunteerism commissioner yiannis yiannaki
Former volunteerism commissioner Yiannis Yiannaki

The controversial former volunteerism commissioner pleaded not guilty to eight charges of allegedly forging documents as he appeared in court on Thursday, with the judge ordering that his travel documents be handed over, setting bail at €20,000.

The allegations, subsequent police investigation and social media firestorm surrounding the case led Yiannis Yiannaki to resign in 2021.

He faces eight charges which are centred on allegations that he forged his academic documents, following explosive reports that he grossly over overexaggerated his qualifications, such as a letter of recommendation and university diploma.

Apparent tampering with Yiannaki’s high school diploma, and his university degree, was discovered by the auditor-general after receiving an anonymous complaint about the issue.

But Yiannaki on Thursday did not admit to tampering with any of the documents, with the court setting his next appearance before the authorities for October 5.

He also said he did not forge a letter of recommendation before taking office at the Youth Board of Cyprus (Onek), where he was first appointed in 1996, securing a permanent job in 2007.

Following the hearing, SigmaLive reported Yiannaki’s lawyer as having argued that over 1,100 articles had been published on his client, claiming that there has been a trial by the media.

Later in the day, the issue of the possible return of Yiannaki’s salary at Onek was tabled to the House audit committee for discussion

Akel MP Irini Charalambidou said that she and other members of the committee from Diko, Edek and the Greens were all in favour of claiming the former volunteerism commissioner’s salary back.

“Onek must file a lawsuit against Yiannaki as they are entitled to get the money back, since he was claiming to be someone he was not,” Charalambidou said in a letter addressed to the committee’s chair Zacharias Koulias.

The investigations into Yiannaki’s past led to pictures emerging of alleged crudely doctored documents, such as his high school diploma. For modern Greek, the diploma read ‘thirteen’ for his subject score but the corresponding number had allegedly been changed to 19.

Under the subject ‘English’, it was also written out as ‘thirteen’ but the number next to it said ‘19’, according to the allegations.

According to reports, Yiannaki’s net salary as commissioner came to €5,090 per month.

President Nicos Anastasiades appointed him commissioner in May 2013.

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