Independent of the criminal proceedings expected to be brought against deputy attorney- general Rikkos Erotokritou for allegedly colluding with a private law firm to settle unrelated court cases to their mutual benefit, the attorney-general filed a request with the Supreme Court for his dismissal, the state Legal Service announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Legal Service confirmed earlier reports that Costas Clerides has also asked that Erotokritou be suspended pending a final verdict on the request, and delegated the case to three private attorneys – Georgios Triantafyllides, Christos Clerides, and Achilleas Emilianides.
The request is incumbent on article 153 of the constitution of Cyprus, which allows for the dismissal of an independent public official for “inappropriate behaviour”.
The Supreme Court will hear the case on May 25.
According to the statement, the inappropriate behavior relates to “activities, actions and comments by the deputy attorney-general during the period from April 14 to April 23, 2015, as well as the prior handling of cases relating to value-added tax under circumstances that suggest a conflict of interest”.
It has not been officially confirmed whether this is connected with last April’s raid of the VAT department by Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides, after being tipped off about suspicious cases of unpaid tax, which were subsequently suspended on orders from the Legal Service.
Clerides seems to have found Erotokritou’s conduct unbecoming, following the announcement of the findings and conclusions of a criminal investigation into the deputy AG’s alleged collusion with the Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC law firm.
The investigation, conducted by retired judge Panayiotis Kallis, found that Erotokritou and the Neocleous law firm had negotiated an agreement by which the firm would allow Erotokritou win a private case against legacy Laiki that would enable him to offset his seized deposits at the lender with outstanding loans.
In exchange, Erotokritou would initiate prosecutions against Russian nationals in connection to a multi-million euro case involving a Cyprus-based Russian trust holding company – Providencia Holdings Ltd. The prosecutions were subsequently overturned by Clerides.
Immediately following the announcement of the report findings, Erotokritou launched a fierce campaign against Clerides, voicing suspicions that the AG had been involved in the Providencia case and may have been bribed.
Kallis’ investigation, subsequently assigned to two other independent criminal investigators, is expected to be concluded in the coming days.
But in a familiar twist, shortly afterwards, Erotokritou announced he will be bringing a similar dismissal request against Clerides in the Supreme Court for “conduct unbecoming since April 14, 2015, in connection with the handling of civil and criminal cases in a way that suggests a conflict of interest between himself, his blood relatives, and his friends, as well as investigations on the causes of the economic collapse”.
“I am obliged to note that after a final and clear report, which necessitated no further investigation, at least according to the Attorney General, a particular criminal offence was revealed against me,” Erotokritou pointed out.
“My referral to the criminal court and my incarceration for seven years, the Attorney General had said, was more than certain, and its initiation was a matter of days.”
Instead, Erotokritou added, two other criminal investigators were appointed, to conduct the same investigation by questioning the same witnesses as Mr Kallis, but have not yet completed their work.
“Mr Kallis has refused to be a part of the second investigation, obviously considering his report final and complete,” he said.
“From all of the above, we can each draw our own conclusions.”
On top of this new legal tangle, the old one was brought back to the fore later in the day, when daily Politis reported that police asked the AG for guidance on further handling of Erotokritou’s allegations against him.
Citing unnamed sources, the paper said the police chief’s letter to the AG did not inform him of the content of Erotokritou’s claims and any evidence available, but noted that it requires instructions on the way forward in connection with the case.
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