Main prosecution witness Giannis Andreou is due before the Permanent Assize Court of Nicosia today to testify under oath. He is the key witness in the retrial of Giorgos Christodoulou-Zavrantonas, who is accused of possessing 15 kilos of cocaine with intent to supply. Prosecution representative Vasilis Bissas had previously announced Andreou’s appearance.
It was on the basis of Andreou’s testimony that the court originally convicted Zavrantonas and sentenced him to 22 years in prison, a ruling later overturned on appeal. The Court of Appeal, on May 11, 2026, accepted one of the grounds of appeal raised by Zavrantonas’s lawyer, concerning the composition of the Assize Court that heard the case at first instance.
The case dates back to January 2019. The court convicted Zavrantonas on December 12, 2022, and sentenced him to 22 years over the cocaine at the centre of the case.
The Anti-Drugs Unit found the drugs in January 2019 in Lakatamia. Giannis Andreou, known as “Maronas,” and Aristos Kyprianou were initially convicted in July 2019 and sentenced to 16 and 8 years respectively.
Andreou later gave a new testimony naming Zavrantonas as the mastermind behind the operation. Authorities then filed a case against Zavrantonas, leading to his conviction, which the Court of Appeal overturned this past May.
At a previous hearing in the case, Christos Poutziouris, defence lawyer for Zavrantonas, raised the issue of Andreou’s inclusion in a witness protection programme. According to Poutziouris, Andreou was released from his 16-year sentence in early 2023 under a presidential pardon, on condition that he not return to Cyprus for a specific period. Poutziouris claimed that this condition was not observed, alleging that Andreou had been a suspect in an incident involving a grenade thrown and shots fired at a businessman’s premises.
The Permanent Assize Court C’ of Nicosia hearing the case is composed of Lefteris Pantelis, President of the District Court, Marilena Theoklitou, Senior District Judge, and Konstantinos Markos Pasiardis, District Judge.
