Both attorney-general George Savvides and his deputy Savvas Angelides on Wednesday announced that they will recuse themselves from any involvement with further investigations into a report conducted by the anti-corruption authority which found that former president Nicos Anastasiades may be criminally liable for abuses of power.
Savvides said he had contacted transparency commissioner Harris Poyiadjis to inquire whether the anti-corruption authority intends to send the full, 3,000-page report to the legal service, and that Poyiadjis had informed him that he will be “in no position” to do so until next week.
He said that “in line with” this, he “will refrain from any evaluation and decision-making in relation to the finding, due to the involvement of [Anastasiades], both given the relationship and friendship with [him] and to ensure objective impartiality in the handling and decision-making” with regard to the case.
Likewise, Angelides said that he will “refrain from any evaluation and decision-making in relation to the finding for the purposes of ensuring objective impartiality in the handling and decision-making”.
Additionally, the legal service’s criminal law section head Elena Cleopa said that she will “abstain from the proceedings”, given that she was summoned to testify by the anti-corruption authority as part of its own investigation into the case.
Later in the day, both Savvides and Angelides found themselves on the receiving end of fierce criticism from Akel, which said that “they must resign here and now”.
“According to the constitution, any kind of criminal investigation will end up at the discretion of the attorney-general. How can there be an objective and impartial process while the leadership of the prosecutor’s office is headed by two appointees of Nicos Anastasiades who were themselves members of the government which set this entire circuit of collusion up?”
It then turned its attention to Disy’s current leadership, asking “how long will [they] hide?”, and “do they think that they are convincing anyone when they declare that they definitely want an investigation at a time when they know that the prosecutor’s office is in the hands of the Anastasiades system?”.
“Do they remain proud of Nicos Anastasiades’ government?” it asked, before then asking whether Anastasiades’ former foreign minister and successor as president Nikos Christodoulides “insists that the Anastasiades government was not corrupt”.
“/does he realise how exposed he is as a child and product of the system?” it asked.
“We will push with all our might so that Nicos Anastasiades and his circle do not escape justice this time. His tentacles must not be allowed to obstruct the work of prosecution and justice. It is the minimum debt owed to the Cypriot people, who, will experiencing haircuts, foreclosures, and impoverishment, saw an entangled elite amass dizzying wealth.”
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