Zavrantonas retrial: lawyer alleges fair-trial breach over deleted files

Local CrimedrugsTop Newstrial Zavrantonas retrial: lawyer alleges fair-trial breach over deleted files Zavra 768x384 1 Relevant News Zavrantonas retrial: lawyer alleges fair-trial breach over deleted files 3 September 2026 Overnight pharmacies on Thursday, September 3 3 September 2026 Body found in Paphos forest confirmed to be missing Erato Athanasiou, 75 3 September 2026 Ioanna Kyriakou 3 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Three police officers from CSI (Criminal Investigation Service) testified on Thursday before the Criminal Court of Nicosia, as the retrial continued in the high-profile 15-kilogram cocaine case against Giorgos Christodoulou-Zavrantonas, in what may be the final testimony from prosecution witnesses under oath. The next hearing has been set for September 11, 2026, at 10.30am, when lawyers will make their prima facie submissions. The court was shown exhibits including CCTV footage, mobile phones and a USB drive, from which the three prosecution witnesses had extracted data under a court order. Defence lawyer Christos Poutziouris pressed the witnesses hard under cross-examination, raising the issue of a possible breach of the defendant’s right to a fair trial, questioning the deletion of raw data files, and challenging whether one officer had been properly trained to use the specific software used to extract data from electronic devices. The first witness, Police Constable G.M., who works in the Photography and Graphic Examinations laboratory of CSI, examined CCTV footage from the home of Giannis Andreou, known as “Maronas”. Andreou was arrested at the property along with Aristos Kyprianou. The military bag containing the drugs was seized at the property. The witness first read out the expert report he had compiled after examining the exhibits, before the court was shown the CCTV footage itself. Responding to questions from prosecution representative Vasilis Bissas, he clarified the times recorded in the footage. The witness said he had been unable to access the settings on the surveillance system’s DVR card, since “Maronas” had not provided the code. As a result, the exact time of the events at the property could not be pinned down. Under cross-examination, Poutziouris pointed out that the files presented in evidence carried specific names and numbers. Asked whether he had investigated whether any files were missing, the witness said he had not, prompting Poutziouris to respond that “it appears files have been deleted.” The second prosecution witness, Police Constable Ch.Ch., was a forensic lab examiner at the time and had examined ten mobile phones belonging to “Maronas”. He said he had received the phones sealed in envelopes. He told the court some of the phones had no SIM card installed. All data found on the exhibits, he said, was copied for review by the investigating officer, D.Ch. Bissas then asked the witness to identify two of the phones, an iPhone X and an iPhone 8, and asked him to explain the practical process for extracting data. The witness described the process: exhibits are received and placed on service equipment, the data is cloned onto a computer, and a report is generated and saved to a USB drive before being handed to the investigating officer. Asked whether he had in any way interfered with the data on the exhibits, the witness answered no, explaining that the service equipment used to extract data has only a read-only function, with no option to edit. Zavrantonas’s lawyer criticised the fact that this witness had not submitted his certificates of expertise to the court. He noted the same thing had happened in the previous proceedings, and said there was no way to verify whether the witness was genuinely an expert. Later in the proceedings, however, the witness said his training certificate had been sent to him via Viber. Poutziouris asked him to submit it. The witness clarified that he received his training in 2011. Under further cross-examination, Poutziouris pointed out that the data extraction software had undergone several upgrades between 2011, when the witness received his training, and 2019, when he carried out the investigation in this case. The officer agreed with Poutziouris, but said this did not change the method used to extract data. Additionally, Poutziouris focused his cross-examination on the fact that the raw files behind these exhibits were neither retained nor handed over to the court or the defence. Asked why this had not been done, the witness said the raw files were extremely large, that there had been no space to store them, and that he had not been asked to keep them. Poutziouris then put it directly to the witness: “I put it to you that you have violated the defendant’s right to a fair trial, because now he cannot verify the raw data with his own expert.” He added that all protocols and best practice state that raw data should never be deleted or discarded, to which the witness replied: “I don’t know about what you’re saying.” The third prosecution witness, M.L., was also a forensic lab examiner, responsible for collecting, handling and examining electronic exhibits. He analysed the contents of the USB drive himself, and said he had made an exact copy of its contents, which he stored on a hard drive. Asked by the prosecution representative whether he had the ability to alter the contents, Mr Lemoniatis said he did not. As a reminder, the drugs were found in January 2019 by the Anti-Drugs Unit (YKAN) in Lakatamia. Giannis Andreou (“Maronas”) and Aristos Kyprianou were convicted over the case in July 2019, and sentenced to 16 and 8 years in prison respectively. Andreou later named Zavrantonas as the mastermind behind the case in a fresh statement, and prosecutors subsequently filed a case against him, resulting in his conviction and a 22-year prison sentence on December 12, 2022. That conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal on May 11, 2026, due to an error in the composition of the first-instance court, and a retrial was ordered. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Overnight pharmacies on Thursday, September 3 Body found in Paphos forest confirmed to be missing Erato Athanasiou, 75 Cyprus needs 3,000 AI professionals by 2032. Can its hiring system recognise them? 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