Brigadier in promotion row

A NATIONAL Guard (NG) Brigadier wants the members of the cabinet and NG Commander, Nicolaos Vorvolakos, imprisoned for not promoting him.

Brigadier Costas Vyronos lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court yesterday against the NG Officer Assessment Board for failing to comply with an October 1995 Supreme Court ruling stating that he was entitled to promotion on merit. The 1995 ruling followed Vyronos’s appeal against an Assessment Board decision that he was due for promotion on grounds of seniority but not merit. Vyronos was passed over for promotion because of this assessment.

In a statement before the court yesterday, Vyronos claimed the Assessment Board’s refusal to reconsider his case in the light of the 1995 ruling constituted contempt of court.

Contempt of a Supreme Court decision is punishable with imprisonment or a fine or both.

The Assessment Board is made up of Vorvolakos, Defence Minister Costas Eliades, Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides and Justice Minister Nicos Koshis. Vyronos also wants the rest of the cabinet punished for endorsing the Board’s decision.