Tales from the coffeeshop: Could Odysseas finally attain martyrdom?

THE DECISION to investigate the sacked auditor-general Odysseas for alleged contempt of court came as a major surprise, considering charges of contempt are very rare indeed.

Although my memory is not what it used to be, I cannot recall anyone being charged with contempt, not even back when newspapers presented a suspect as guilty before his trial had even begun. I do not think even Kikis Constantinou, who appeared in court in just his Speedos to face made-up conspiracy allegations, was charged with contempt.

Odysseas, who never went anywhere in his Speedos, was called in by police for questioning after an idiotic allegation he repeatedly made on television shows, the most recent being last month. He had said that a close associate of Prezniktwo had known since July 2024 that the judges of the supreme constitutional court would unanimously decide to sack him; their decision was announced in September.

The implication of this claim, I suppose, was that the supreme court judges were in cahoots with the Prez (or worse still, that they were taking orders from him) and that Odysseas’ trial was rigged. It also implied that the constitutionally safeguarded separation of powers had been violated by the executive and judiciary.

In short, Odysseas might be prosecuted for repeating on telly a bit of gossip he heard from a cleaner at the presidential palace.

IS EVERYONE who publicly repeats some wild allegation about the courts investigated for contempt? And Odysseas, now that he is not a state official, is just another ‘everyone’, that the authorities should ignore when he opens his mouth.

Odysseas, although he set up a political movement, is currently just another conspiracy-minded nobody, who should be treated as such by the authorities. I do not know whose idea it was to instruct the police to open an investigation against him for contempt of court.

One theory is that the orders came from AG Giorgos Savvides, who was accused by Odysseas’ supporters of pursuing a vendetta against their hero. It could have been Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis, who, after Odysseas’ May 20 television appearance, demanded he gave to the police all evidence he had as he made “serious accusations touching top institutions of the state.”

Even the supreme constitutional court issued an announcement, demanding Odysseas give all the information he had to the state authorities because allegations of corruption against judges were very serious and had to be investigated. Any one of the above may have asked the cops to investigate while the chief of police could even have taken the decision himself.   

Or as Odysseas tweeted on X: “President Christodoulides is hiding but he was, xekathara, part of the procedure (of the courts).”

THE TV HACKS on whose shows Odysseas made his allegation were also spoken to by police investigators, which suggests the authorities are taking this investigation seriously.

If it proceeds and Odysseas is formally charged it would be a Godsend for him. He will at long last attain martyrdom, which he has been unsuccessfully trying to win for years. And he will win everyone’s sympathy and support as the heroic and defiant victim of the corrupt, evil, scheming, self-serving establishment that is hell bent on destroying him.

This spin was evident in Saturday’s column in Phil by Kallinikou, who is Odysseas’ most vociferous and zealous supporter. “We have digested it gentlemen of the executive, judicial and legislative authorities. Odysseas does not bow. Is not silenced. Does not swallow. And mainly, he does not obey. Therefore, he must be eliminated. We understood this. You take him to court, you sue him, you sue him again and now you are initiating a criminal investigation against him over a statement.”

I do not know if this is an establishment plot, an attempt by the Prez to destroy a rival for the presidency or just a random decision by the AG. What I do know is that it would boost support for the insufferable Odysseas with the real risk of running him into Kyproulla’s Nelson Mandela.

EVENTS of the last week had me thinking of the last bit in Godfather I, in which Michael Corleone has all his rivals killed. He does not bother charging them with contempt of court but he just sends assassins to do the job as he attends a church christening.

I thought of this after reading that Odysseas was being charged with contempt, just a couple of days after the new auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou, a loyal servant of the Prez, issued a report aimed at showing Prezita Annita squandering public money.

Had the Prez ordered his trusted lieutenants to eliminate (character assassination) the two people entertaining ideas of standing against him in the 2028 presidential elections, while he was attending social functions? Odysseas could be put behind bars while Annita be presented as the blonde bimbo wasting the taxpayers’ money staying at flash hotels.

OK, this is not Michael Corleone type ruthlessness, but I am entitled to some poetic licence occasionally.

THE REPORT about the Prezita’s spending was really pathetic. Apparently, the bill for three days’ accommodation at a central London hotel, for her and her entourage of eight people, last July came to €18,000.

Her mistake, according to the audit office report, was that the entourage stayed at the same expensive hotel as her instead of being sent to a cheaper place. She had also claimed VIP facilities at Heathrow, which cost seven grand.

Another point raised in the report was that the legislature spent €77,500 on new furniture without a tender procedure.

How funny. When Odysseas was auditor-general he issued reports criticising Prezniktwo about the curtains that were bought for the presidential palace. Now the Prez’s man is auditor-general he is accusing Annita about the chairs and tables bought for the legislature.

THE GOVERNMENT advertised its fascistic, nationalist tendencies as part of its ongoing courtship with Elam, which Diko insiders were complaining about again in last Sunday’s Kathimerini.

On Wednesday, deputy minister of culture Vasiliki Kassianidou, like an official in a totalitarian government, ordered the withdrawal of a book that was available at Kyproulla’s stand at the Architecture Biennale in Venice because of “problematic references” and because it did not have the approval of her ministry.

Are we living in the Soviet Union where the approval of the government was needed before a book about architecture can be made available? And what could have been so bad about the book to justify the culture minister engaging in blatant censorship? Worse still, she was congratulated for the censorship by the Prez, who said he saw no need to sack her after her prompt action.

The episode is a great advertisement for the freedom of artistic expression in Kyproulla, which has to be approved by our Soviet-style state.

FREEDOM of speech is being attacked from many quarters. Earlier in the week, Cypriot TikToker Nikos Peletie, who is trying to become the Andrew Tate of Kyproulla, was taken in for questioning by the police for sexist comments posted on social media.

He was reported by the Socialist Women’s Movement and the Akel women’s wing Pogo for sexist rhetoric and for violating guidelines on gender equality. Peletie’s comments were pretty pathetic – what you would expect a 12-year-old to say – but the ladies took offence and the police had to investigate.

It is a colossal waste of time and money for the police to investigate a loser who posts puerile comments such as “women lie more than men, a woman is an ungrateful animal and goes crazy when you tell her no.” These are idiotic sexist comments, but it is no crime to utter them.

I WOULD not be surprised if Odysseas also plays the free speech card against the state in defence of the accusations of contempt of court. His attorney, legal eagle Christos Clerides, has already said he would refer the matter to the European Court of Human Rights at which an application had already been filed about his client’s sacking.

Meanwhile it would be no surprise if the AG’s office, despite the fuss, decided not to charge Odysseas just so as not to turn him into a holy martyr.