Calls are growing in Cyprus for a formal investigation into allegations made publicly by journalist and Volt parliamentary candidate Makarios Drousiotis, with political parties, the Cyprus Bar Association and police all drawn into the row.
Drousiotis has made a series of public claims touching on corruption and other serious misconduct. He says he has evidence to support them, including messages, audio, and photographs. The allegations have not been proven, and some people named have rejected them.
The Democratic Rally (DISY), said any evidence should be submitted immediately to the authorities and examined through formal procedures. In a statement, the party said allegations left in the public domain without being reported risk turning into mud-slinging and political exploitation, especially close to elections.
DISY also accused what it described as an alliance of AKEL, Odysseas Michaelides, ALMA and Volt of trying to discredit people and institutions and of fuelling instability.
The Cyprus Bar Association also called for an inquiry. It said it was following recent reports and Drousiotis’s claims with concern and urged the authorities to examine whether the allegations were well-founded or not, immediately, fully and in a credible way, within constitutionally established procedures. It added that no such complaints had ever been brought before its council.
Former Supreme Court judge Michalakis Christodoulou, one of the people drawn into the public claims, rejected allegations attributed to Drousiotis about paedophilia and corruption in a television appearance on Alpha. He described the phone messages in question as forged and said he would hand his phone to police for examination. He also said he would file a complaint against Drousiotis together with his wife and daughter.
Christodoulou said he knew a woman referred to in the claims as “Sandy” as “Kyriaki” and that he first met her in September 2020 after she approached him for help. He said he tried to support her “like a father” over matters he would not discuss publicly.
He also said he did not know a man identified as Papadakis, did not know Morphakis Solomonides and had no knowledge of any Rosicrucian brotherhood. Furthermore, he repeated that the material was forged.
Drousiotis, also speaking on Alpha TV, said the material in his possession was “frightening” and said every word he had written could be documented. He said he had not had any contact with “Sandy” after publishing his post. Asked whether she was named Kyriaki, he said he had not himself referred to her by name and that Christodoulou had his version.
He said the material was not limited to messages and included audio and photographic documents. He also said he had worked on the case on a new computer without an internet connection.
Drousiotis said his aim was to highlight what he described as a problem, not to target anyone personally. He also said a woman had approached him and that he had evidence to support what he wrote.
There was also uncertainty over when the material would be handed to police. Police spokesperson Vyron Vyronos said Drousiotis had not yet given a statement and that it was not known when exactly he would do so.
Drousiotis said he had spoken with a police officer two days earlier and said he would respond once his lawyer returned. He added that he later phoned police twice without getting an answer.
Asked why he had suggested to the president that an independent criminal investigator be appointed, Drousiotis said that was because he did not trust the police, though he said his experience with the anti-corruption authority had been excellent. He said he was willing to hand the material to the authorities and that, if independent criminal investigators were appointed, he would testify before them. Otherwise, he said, he would submit the material to police.
In a separate television appearance on Omega, Drousiotis said he would hand the material to police on Friday.
Responding to DISY’s statement, AKEL spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas said the party remained in favour of a full investigation into all allegations and repeated its call for the black surveillance van case to be reopened.
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