Lawyer Christos Triantafyllides on Wednesday sent a letter to the attorney-general George Savvides requesting the immediate appointment of an independent criminal investigator in the central prisons’ documents case involving its former director and senior officer.

In April, police searching the home of a prison warden found a large volume of official documents, some marked “confidential” or “secret”.

Authorities later arrested five people, four prison wardens and a police cadet, on suspicion of wrongdoing related to the removal of those documents. At one point, courts remanded the five suspects for seven days, citing risks to the investigation.

Investigators believe the bulk of the documents was removed between November and December 2022. Former prisons governor Anna Aristotelous, who was in office during that period, has given testimony and her aide, Athina Demetriou, has also been interviewed by police.

Triantafyllides’ letter, which was also sent to President Nikos Christodoulides, the justice minister and the deputy attorney general, includes two copies of witness statements said to contain allegations related to the ongoing case involving the transfer of documents from within the central prisons.

In his letter, Triantafyllides asks for an investigation into possible offences allegedly committed by three individuals, Michalis Katsounotos, Maria Shaeli and Haris Herodotou. He claims that evidence of these offences is included in the statements of two former inmates, which, as he says, came to his attention under circumstances protected by professional confidentiality.

The lawyer argues that due to the senior position of Katsounotos within the Cyprus police, it would be objectively impossible for members of the force to investigate the allegations impartially. For this reason, he calls for an independent investigator to be appointed to handle the matter.

Triantafyllides also asks the attorney-general to instruct the police officers currently investigating the alleged offences concerning his clients to include the new witness statements in their inquiries. He further notes that any investigators who are directly or indirectly mentioned in the enclosed statements should no longer take part in the ongoing investigations.

According to the letter, all related investigations should restart from the beginning, as Triantafyllides claims the current process has been “compromised” by actions of certain police officers mentioned in the statements and in earlier letters sent to the attorney-general on July 2.

The attorney general’s office and the police have not yet issued a public response to the lawyer’s latest request.