Relative of police complaints body member linked ‘to organised crime’

A relative of one of the members of the independent police complaints authority is “involved in organised crime”, it was heard at the House ethics committee on Wednesday.

The committee was subjected to a convoluted episode of “he said, she said”, as all parties pointed fingers at one another regarding who was at fault for the perceived oversight.

Trade union Isotita’s police force branch chairman Nikos Loizides told the committee the matter represented a “conflict of interest” for the authority member, pointing out that the person in question could be called upon to examine cases against police officers who arrested members of his own family.

Committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou provided background on the case, noting that Loizides had made a complaint to the committee regarding the matter in October.

He added that he himself had sent two letters to Cabinet Secretary Poly Papavassiliou, asking what President Nikos Christodoulides intends to do about it, and receiving no answer.

Pursuant to that, he said, the matter was registered for discussion at the committee by Volt MP Alexandra Attalides.

He added that one member of the independent police complaints authority had resigned in the meantime and that a replacement had been appointed last week.

“The issue remains important so that people know they can appeal to this authority for complaints against the police and find justice,” he said.

Papavassiliou apologised for not replying to Demetriou’s letters and said the government would offer a formal response after seeking a legal opinion on the matter.

She added that since the matter was not forwarded to the attorney-general, “no action by cabinet would be justified.”

A justice ministry spokesman said the ministry had been informed of the authority member’s resignation and the need to replace him and had immediately turned to the attorney-general George Savvides.

The authority’s chairman Andreas Paschalides said he had called upon Isotita to provide evidence to back up their claims and had received no response. He added that the member who resigned had been off sick since June and had formally resigned from their post in October.

Speaking for a second time, Loizides said there are “over 200 cases” related to gambling and drugs in the police system regarding relatives of authority members, with none of those cases being referred to the attorney-general.

He also referred to the Greco report, which stated “the importance of criminal investigators not being former police officers”, and said that former police officers are members of the independent police complaints authority.

When asked why he had not responded to Paschalides’ requests for further information, he said he had never received an official invitation to do so.

The meeting then continued behind closed doors.