The court case regarding the three people facing criminal charges over a report by news company Al Jazeera into the alleged illegal naturalisations of people as citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, commonly known as the ‘golden passports scandal’, was adjourned for a further ten days on Friday.

Former House president Demetris Syllouris, former Akel MP Christakis Giovanis, and senior lawyer for the Giovanis Group Antonis Antoniou are facing charges, including conspiracy to subvert the Republic and influencing a public official in violation of the laws criminalising corruption.

On Friday, the prosecution asked that the court grant another date for the hearing due to “developments” related to a witness living in the United Kingdom who will testify via videoconference.

The prosecution said there had been “unforeseen developments” related to this witness and thus asked for the case to be adjourned. The prosecution is expected to call between ten and 12 witnesses in the case.

The court as such set the next two hearings for February 24 and February 28.

Al Jazeera aired an almost hour-long expose of the scandal in October 2020, prompting Syllouris and Giovanis to both resign.

In the documentary, undercover reporters played the role of agents acting on behalf of a fictional Chinese businessman with a criminal record, aiming to secure him Cypriot citizenship.

Syllouris, Giovanis and others were shown offering to help the man in his quest for citizenship despite his criminal record.

The government of the day then scrapped Cyprus’ citizenship by investment scheme, with the European Union having launched legal proceedings over claims the scheme had been used to sell passports to dubious individuals.

A subsequent inquiry found that 53 per cent of 6,779 citizenships granted through the scheme were unlawful, with the government since having commenced the process of cancelling the citizenship of some naturalised through the scheme.