The first witness in the trial of the two former MPs 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’ is to testify on March 31.

Former House president Demetris Syllouris and former Akel MP Christakis Giovani are both facing charges including conspiracy to subvert the Republic and influencing a public official in violation of the laws criminalising corruption.

Judge Nikolas Georgiades said on Friday that the court had been informed that one witness was “unable to appear” on the day, with prosecution lawyer Charis Karolidou saying the witness was facing “certain problems which made his appearance in court impossible”.

She added that efforts had been made to find some witnesses who would be able to testify on the day, but that due to “the limited time available in the meantime, it was not possible”.

As such, she said, a total of 12 witnesses will now be called on by the prosecution.

Georgiades then raised the issue of the amount of time which would be required for the examination and cross-examination of witnesses, with Karaolidou saying a separate day may be required for each witness.

Karaolidou then turned her attention to a part of a document regarding “admissible facts” prepared by Syllouris’ lawyer Chris Triantafyllides.

The text in question relates to the fact that both Attorney-General George Savvides and his deputy Savvas Angelides were both cabinet ministers in the late 2010s while the ‘golden passports scandal’ was in full swing, as justice minister and defence minister respectively.

Triantafyllides said his wording reflects “a very positive reality”, with Georgiades saying that if the prosecution does not agree with his wording, she should propose a reformulation.

She then asked, “what purpose does this report serve as an admissible fact?”

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.