A NATIONAL Guard Colonel who blew the whistle on a "clandestine paramilitary group" allegedly operating in the army could be in hot water today after being interviewed by police and allegedly admitted to tampering with evidence that ‘proving’ the group’s existence.
Colonel Avraam Marangos underwent exhaustive questioning at CID headquarters yesterday after new evidence linking him to the case came up during the criminal investigation.
It was Marangos who in April handed the ‘incriminating’ documents to Akel deputy Costas Papacostas, who went later public with the claims that Disy had tasked a paramilitary group to keep tabs on the political persuasions of National Guard officers.
During yesterday’s lengthy questioning, Marangos allegedly admitted that the handwriting on two of the five documents was his.
Reports said he had confessed after graphologists matched Marangos’ writing with handwritten notes on two of the documents.
Police said last night they were now seeking the person who is thought to have drafted the diagram outlining the structure of the paramilitary group.
Marangos could now face criminal charges for allegedly falsifying evidence and misleading police investigation.
A military inquiry at the weekend found evidence that Colonel Loizos Fessas had drawn up the documents, but said there was no evidence of a larger paramilitary group.
Fessas has denied drawing the diagram.
Yesterday, CID Chief Tassos Panayiotou presented the criminal investigation file to Attorney-general Alecos Markides, who, in light of the new evidence, returned it, asking police to probe further into the issue.
Earlier yesterday, Akel deputy Costas Papacostas had disputed the findings of the military probe, claiming it had been influenced by Disy.
The inquiry was ordered last month by Defence Minister Socratis Hasikos after Papacostas made his allegations.
Yesterday, Papacostas said the findings underestimated people’s intelligence.
He claimed the documents allegedly found on Fessas could not have been drafted by him alone.
"Can anyone ever believe that a colonel with so many years of service would be so frivolous as to sit by himself and draw diagrams outlining the structure of the group," Papacostas said.
The document allegedly found on Fessas showed that he and five other army officers, as well as one Disy employee, were active in the group.
Two retired generals were also named on the diagram as leaders of the group.
On Saturday, Hasikos assured that Fessas, the only one against whom there was some evidence, would be investigated for breaking the National Guard’s disciplinary code.
Fessas admitted he had authorised the document, but denied he had anything to do with other documents relating to the clandestine committee.
