Minister admits bug was found in his office

JUSTICE Minister Doros Theodorou yesterday admitted that a telephone-tapping device had been discovered in his office during a sweep by private detectives three months ago.

Speaking to CyBC radio yesterday, Theodorou said some employees had been removed from the ministry as a result.

“It’s not a recent case. The bug was discovered three months ago,” he said.
“But I felt that I shouldn’t trouble public opinion with matters that are not as big as the media are currently making them out to be.

“It might not be a small issue, but all the necessary measures were taken to ensure that my ministry was not being tapped, at least not from the inside. Therefore I had no reason to make this public, but I informed the President, the Chief of Police and former Justice Minister Nicos Koshis.

“It was a ghost from the past, it has been there for a long time. Put it this way, I don’t think it was my wife who put it there,” Theodorou said.

The equipment enabled the monitoring of telephone and fax messages at the justice ministry building, from a distance of up to 500 metres.

Theodorou refused to comment on how the bug was found and refused to speculate on when it had been installed.

President Tassos Papadopoulos also confirmed the bug had been found, saying the device was not working when it was discovered and that all the necessary investigations were carried out.

Papadopoulos said no investigation had or would be carried out at the Presidential Palace.

But opposition DISY have again called for the issue of ministry security to be addressed following Tuesday’s revelations.

Spokesman Tassos Mitsopoulos said DISY condemned the bugging of Theodorou’s office and any actions that would monitor conversations in government or private buildings.

He said the discovery of the bug in the ministry only strengthened DISY’s stance on improved security measures in all the ministries.

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