**Golden Passports Trial Postponed Following Addition of New Charges**
The highly anticipated trial involving former transport minister Marios Demetriades and nine other defendants in the controversial golden passport case has been postponed. Originally scheduled to commence on Monday, the trial was delayed after prosecutors introduced 25 new charges to the indictment.
The Nicosia permanent criminal court has set September 23 as the date for defence lawyer Elias Stefanou to respond to these additional charges. The trial itself has now been rescheduled for October 19.
The newly added charges pertain to five of the ten defendants involved in the case. Senior counsel Haris Karaolidou informed the court that the charges were communicated to the defence lawyers just a day prior to the scheduled trial date and were formally filed with the court on the same day. Karaolidou argued that the additional charges relate to the same incidents already outlined in the existing indictment and are based on evidence that prosecutors had previously gathered. She contended that since the case is still in its early stages, the introduction of these charges would not disadvantage the defendants.
Marios Demetriades’ lawyer, Petros Stavrou, did not raise any objections to the new charges, as they do not apply to his client. However, defence lawyer Elias Stefanou expressed concerns regarding the timing of the new charges, noting that the investigation began back in 2021 and the original indictment was filed in September 2024. He questioned why the prosecution was only now adding these charges two years later.
Stefanou pointed out that while most of the new charges build upon existing allegations that his clients obtained citizenship registrations through false representation, the introduction of these charges alters the overall structure of the case. Among the new charges are three distinct allegations of money laundering related to transactions involving three investors, which Stefanou characterized as “of a completely different nature” compared to the other charges.
In addition to the new charges, the court has agreed to a prosecution request to call three additional witnesses to testify in the trial. In total, the case involves ten defendants, comprising eight individuals and two companies. The charges against them include influence peddling, bribery, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, and money laundering.
An interim investigation conducted in 2021 revealed that 137 naturalisations promoted by a law firm associated with Demetriades were approved during cabinet meetings he attended while serving as transport minister from 2014 to 2018. Throughout the proceedings, Demetriades has maintained his innocence, asserting that he is a “scapegoat” in the unfolding legal saga.
As the trial date approaches, the legal community and the public will be closely monitoring developments in this high-profile case, which has raised significant questions about the integrity of the golden passport program in Cyprus and the actions of public officials involved in the process.