The two defendants in the ongoing ‘golden passports’ trial insisted on Thursday that they are innocent of all charges, that they broke no law nor done anything untoward.

Former House Speaker Demetris Syllouris and ex-MP Christakis Giovani both denied any wrongdoing.

The two face charges of influence peddling and conspiracy to defraud, relating to the naturalisation of foreign investors.

Initially two more individuals had been indicted, but the charges against them were subsequently dropped. They are attorney Andreas Pittadjis and Antonis Antoniou – who worked as an operations manager for the Giovani Group, real estate developers based in Paralimni.

Both Syllouris and Giovani submitted unsworn statements to the court, read out by their respective lawyers. Neither defendant will take the stand.

In his statement, Syllouris said he “unequivocally” rejects any notion that he acted, or intended to act, in an illegal way.

“I categorically state that I am innocent of all the charges in this case, which has unjustly created huge problems for myself and my family,” the defendant said.

Likewise Giovani stated he had not broken the law. In relation to the naturalisation of Russian national Nikolay Gornovskiy, the ex-Gazprom chief, the defendant said the documents he had signed had been put before him and drawn up by Pittadjis.

Pittadjis’ law firm had worked for the Giovani Group, and for Giovani himself.

And Pittadjis had personally handled Gornovskiy’s naturalization application, said Giovani.

“I never fathomed, and I never believed, that there was something untoward, nor did I do something untoward,” he noted.

During the same hearing, the court heard from Socratis Socratous, former director of the House. He had served at a time when Syllouris was Speaker of the House.

A witness summoned by the defence, Socratous was asked about travels overseas made by Syllouris – especially a trip to China in November 2019.

Socratous said that Syllouris had headed up the official visit to China, where a workshop was held regarding exports and imports. The event was addressed by Syllouris and other foreign leaders. Also taking part were Cypriot MPs from all the parties in parliament.

Earlier, in June 2018, an event had been held in Cyprus on economic cooperation with Asian countries. Among those taking part there were Syllouris, who chaired the proceedings, as well as Giovani.

Other than this event in Cyprus, Socratous did not recall any other such event in which Syllouris had participated along with Giovani.

The witness said that Syllouris had headed up various House delegations abroad, following invitations by foreign parliaments. He said that the House operates within the context of “parliamentary diplomacy” to promote Cyprus’ interests.

One of the objectives of such missions is to attract foreign investment to Cyprus.

Socratous went on to read out a letter handed to him by the defence. Drafted by Syllouris in August 2020, and sent to then-president Nicos Anastasiades, the letter suggested convening a meeting of party leaders to discuss ways of improving the Cyprus investment programme or even scrapping it.

Next, the witness was cross-examined by state prosecutors.

The former presidential secretary to Anastasiades had also been due to appear in court on Thursday. The defence wanted to summon her so she could verify a document – a letter from Anastasiades dated March 2015.

In the letter, Anastasiades ‘authorised’ Syllouris to act to attract foreign investors to Cyprus.

Prosecutors accepted that the letter is genuine, so the witness did not have to appear in person.

The next hearing in the trial is scheduled for September 15.