THE "paramilitary" row between governing Disy and main opposition party Akel rumbled on yesterday, with Disy weighing in with allegations of "criminal" doctoring of relevant evidence by their rival party.
On Monday, Avraam Marangos, the National Guard Colonel who blew the whistle on the alleged clandestine Disy army monitoring group, reportedly admitted tampering with relevant documents.
These tampered documents were among the ones that Marangos handed to Akel deputy Costas Papacostas last month. Papacostas sparked a head-on clash between Akel and Disy by claiming Disy had tasked a group to keep tabs on the political affiliations of National Guard officers.
Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday leapt on Marangos’ reported confessions as concrete evidence that Akel had concocted the whole "paramilitary" scandal.
He suggested Marangos had not been the only one to tamper with relevant documents, pointing the finger at Papacostas.
Anastassiades suggested Papacostas had had plenty of time to alter the documents.
"Why did Papacostas hold the relevant documents for 13 days before going public with them?" he asked.
"We are, unfortunately, looking at criminal actions," Anastassiades concluded.
Akel leader Demetris Christofias countered by saying Marangos may have admitted to doctoring certain documents but the "original" documents remained valid. The "paramilitary" claims still held water, Christofias concluded.
The Defence Ministry has already investigated and dismissed Papacostas’ allegations. But Defence Minister Socrates Hasikos also said army Colonel Loizos Fessas could face disciplinary action for drawing up a document listing persons allegedly involved in the clandestine monitoring group.
A police probe into the allegations has been completed and the relevant file was yesterday handed over to the Attorney-general, Alecos Markides. Police investigators would not comment on the Marangos confessions, saying that it was now up to Markides to decide on the whole issue.
Defence Minister Hasikos again vowed to come down hard on anyone found guilty of interfering with army affairs.
He added that measures to block any attempts at such interference were in the pipeline. "The army chief (Evangelos Florakis) is preparing precautionary measures to give the message in all directions, and particularly within the National Guard, they you cannot mess with the National Guard," Hasikos said.
