The Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court reserved its ruling on Friday on the Central Prisons documents case. At issue is whether certain documents, withheld from the defence on the prosecution’s position that they fall under legislative exemptions, should remain outside the evidentiary material in the case.
The court set the matter down for September 22, 2026, at 09:30, when it will announce its ruling, after hearing the prosecution’s clarifications and the defence’s positions on issues raised at the previous hearing.
It is recalled that during last Tuesday’s proceedings, the court had requested further clarifications on three issues: specific documents where it was unclear whether they had been disclosed to the defence; lawyer-client conversations included in the seized material; and whether the defence must show how it is affected by the non-disclosure of the documents in question.
Responding to the court’s questions, prosecution representative Anna Matthaiou said the requested clarifications concerned documents numbered 204, 205 and 206. She also referred to four digital disks containing lawyer-client conversations, which form part of 421 objects relating to the sixth and ninth charges in the indictment.
She said that, at this stage, there is no charge concerning the interception of these conversations.
“At this stage there isn’t one. I don’t know if there will be any amendment later on. It was an issue that was discussed and views had been expressed, so I don’t know if there will be any change,” she said.
For the defence, the lawyer for the 1st defendant, Christos Triantafyllides, argued that since the prosecution is seeking to present these documents, they become relevant to its own case and, as a result, the defence must be able to address the court on their non-disclosure.
He added that only if the prosecution ultimately decided to withdraw the documents, arguing they were irrelevant, could a different issue arise over their significance.
Representing herself, the 2nd defendant, Athina Dimitriou, disputed the prosecution’s claims that a list and summary of the disputed material had been provided, and that the documents contained key identifying details such as date, sender, recipient, classification and subject.
She said neither a list nor a summary had been given to the defence, and argued that some documents lacked the details cited by the prosecution.
She added that she could cite specific examples to support her claims, saying the prosecution’s account created a false impression.
Representing the 3rd defendant, lawyer Chloe Constantinou argued that the contested material, the indictment documents forming part of the pre-trial process, and the related communication referred to, all constitute relevant evidence and should be given to the defence.
She said these documents form part of the evidence for the charge her client faces, citing relevant case law.
She added that the defence is not obliged to disclose its line of defence, but need only demonstrate the objective relevance of the documents to the evidence, arguing that since the disputed material forms part of the prosecution’s own case, it is inherently relevant to the defence as well.
With the submissions concluded, the Criminal Court reserved its interim ruling for September 22, when it will decide whether the documents that have not been disclosed to the defence will remain outside the case’s evidentiary material.
(Information from Cyprus News Association)
