Four defendants in the golden passport case that includes former transport minister Marios Demetriades denied 25 new charges on Tuesday.
Defence lawyer Elias Stefanou told the Nicosia permanent criminal court his side had written to prosecutors last Thursday asking for details of the new charges, but received a reply only the previous afternoon.
Though his clients were ready to respond that day rather than hold up the case, he asked for an interim hearing to decide whether the prosecution’s reply should count as binding detail or be dealt with later.
State lawyer Haris Karaolidou said the defendants already had everything they needed to understand the case against them, and that where the wording looked general, that was down to the law the charges are built on, not a lack of detail.
He said supporting evidence, including witness material, had been handed over, though that did not cap what the prosecution could still present, and argued the defendants were fully aware of both the charges and the case they faced.
The 24 new charges apply to four of the ten defendants, Andreas, Demetris and George Demetriades, and Eleni Symillidi. The last three concern money transferred by three investors and relate to money laundering rules, a part of the case Stefanou has called “completely different in nature” from the rest of the indictment.
Prosecutors say the added charges stem from the same events already in the indictment and rest on evidence already in their hands. The court also agreed to a prosecution request to call three more witnesses.
Ten defendants in total, eight people and two companies, face trial, with charges spanning influence peddling, bribery, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, VAT fraud and money laundering.
The court set next Friday as an interim date before the trial proper opens on October 19.
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