Top doctor goes on trial on bribery charges

THE TRIAL began in Larnaca yesterday of a senior ophthalmologist at Nicosia’s Makarios Hospital, who is accused of accepting bribes.

Michalis Constantindes, who was head of the ophthalmological unit at the hospital, has been charged with taking a bribe of £2,000 on October 10, 1998 from Andreas Vorkas, director of a private company in Larnaca, in exchange for two of the company’s machines being installed at the hospital.

Constantinides’ lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou asked the court to drop the charges against his client.

He said the charges didn’t stick because Constantinides was not a member of the central tenders committee which is responsible for approving supplies for the hospital.

But state prosecutor Charalambos Nicolaides said the accused had acted with intent and committed the crime without any encouragement.

He said the fact that the charge sheet did not refer to the central tenders committee did not mean he could not be charged. All the prosecution had to prove was that he had received the £2,000, he said, and the law did not require him to be a member of the tenders council to exert his influence.

Judge Nicos Santis agreed with the prosecution. He said there was no evidence before the court saying the accused had to be a member of the tenders committee in order to face such charges. The trial continues today with witnesses for the prosecution.

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