Makarios Drousiotis has said the criminal case filed against him and “Sandy” today is a diversion from the “Videogate” affair and a helping hand to former President Nicos Anastasiades.
In a social media post, Drousiotis confirmed he had received the indictment in the “Sandy” case, saying it accuses him of dolus and of knowingly publishing forged messages.
“This is a diversion from Videogate and a helping hand to Nicos Anastasiades,” he wrote. He claimed the Law Office grants immunity to serious criminals convicted of murder and drug offences in order to turn them into witnesses in secondary cases.
Drousiotis described himself as a key witness in the case concerning the “Mafia State,” and said the Law Office was neutralising him by making him a defendant instead.
He named Attorney General Giorgos Savvides and Deputy Attorney General Savvas Angelides, saying both had recused themselves from the “Mafia State” proceedings despite being named in his reporting and in the “Sandy” messages. “They filed an indictment against me and in their own favour,” he wrote.
He went on to say that in “Nikos Christodoulides’s Cyprus, investigative journalism is dragged before criminal courts,” adding that the rule of law had been “dragged through the mud.”
Background
The case follows the filing of criminal charges against Drousiotis and “Sandy” earlier today, reportedly covering around 100 counts, over messages that police have said were fabricated and forged.
The “Sandy” case originated with publications by Drousiotis alleging corruption and sexual misconduct by public figures, centred on messages purportedly exchanged between “Sandy” and former Supreme Court judge Michalakis Christodoulou, who has acknowledged knowing “Sandy” but denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Police later announced that the messages were fabricated and forged and that the information they contained was false, a conclusion Drousiotis has publicly rejected, while continuing to maintain that his own messages are authentic.
