Who will evaluate the evidence, Mr Savvides?

Opinion corruptionIndependent Authority against Corruptionmafiapolitics Who will evaluate the evidence, Mr Savvides? Paraskeyhs Sabbidhs 1024x652 Relevant News Who will evaluate the evidence, Mr Savvides? 10 July 2026 Overnight pharmacies on Friday, July 10 10 July 2026 Greece arrests two over deadly 2010 protest fire-bombing 10 July 2026 Aristos Michaelides 10 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber In the Rikkos Erotokritou case, which ended in conviction at the Criminal Court in 2017, the then Attorney-General, Costas Clerides, appointed a private criminal investigator, Panayiotis Kallis, alongside private public prosecutors, Elias Stefanou and Savvas Angelidis. All at once. So that they could work together, with the prosecutors steering the investigation from the start. The public prosecutor’s role was essential. He directed the investigation to make sure it delivered exactly the evidence he deemed necessary to take the case to court. A public prosecutor cannot simply be handed the finished product of an investigation and, if he finds the evidence insufficient, ask for more digging, or fresh inquiries after the fact. He is the one who takes the case to court, not the criminal investigators. He weighs the evidence and decides whether it’s strong enough to prosecute. He draws up the charges. Which is exactly why he needs to be in the room from day one, in constant contact with the investigators as the case takes shape. That’s what makes the current Attorney-General‘s decision so baffling. Asked about the Anti-Corruption Authority’s report at the House Legal Affairs Committee, Giorgos Savvides said the appointment of a private public prosecutor would be considered only once the five criminal investigators had finished their work. Costas Clerides made his appointments because he himself had a stake in the case against the then Deputy Attorney-General, and he wanted to be seen as impartial. He kept out of not just of the investigation, but of the prosecutor’s job too. Now, with the current Attorney-General and his deputy clearly aware of just how little public trust they command, and having recused themselves, they should have appointed a private public prosecutor immediately, so that no whiff of suspicion could attach to them, either during the investigation or when the decisions on prosecution come due. Because throughout the investigation, the criminal investigators need someone to answer to, someone to report to, someone to be accountable to. Who is that someone? The Attorney-General, who’s stepped aside? Or the Council of the Law Office, which didn’t even open the 3,000-page report before shipping it straight off to the Council of Ministers, transferring the responsibility along with it? And when the investigation wraps up, who decides whether there’s enough for prosecutions, or whether a private public prosecutor is needed after all? The Attorney-General, obviously. There’s no one else who can. Which rather undoes the whole point of stepping aside in the first place. I really don’t want to believe they’re betting on the public’s anger cooling off by the time the term ends, so they can make their calls without anyone watching too closely. P.S. Since we’re on the Erotokritou case, worth remembering two lines from the Criminal Court’s own ruling, on the 8th February, 2017: “It is not only impunity that harbours and encourages bribery and corruption. It is also the lenient treatment of such punishable conduct…” And this: “The fact that our case law does not record a multitude of such offences does not prove that corruption and bribery do not exist as a phenomenon in our society. On the contrary, there are indications that this is a phenomenon with a strong presence in our country.” By 2026, we don’t need indications any more, we have tragic, glaring facts staring us in the face. Yet it still hasn’t sunk in that our institutions and state officials need to hold the line firmly if impunity and the lenient handling of corruption are ever going to end. The slightest leniency is all it takes to harbour and encourage bribery and corruption. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Overnight pharmacies on Friday, July 10 Greece arrests two over deadly 2010 protest fire-bombing POGO Women’s Movement files complaint over online gender-based violence Paphos court convicts two in separate sexual abuse and rape cases, one involving minor Livewire launches in Nicosia with 22-artist show Specular Drift “What are you waiting for?” Citizens accuse Nicosia police of failing to act on serial cat shootings Things to do on Friday, July 10 Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.