THE trial of Health Minister Dina Akkelidou, accused of attempting to interfere with the course of justice, resumed yesterday with the prosecution submitting to the court evidence, which has been accepted by the defence as fact.
Akkelidou is charged with attempting to interfere with the course of justice when she wrote a letter to a Larnaca judge in September, asking for leniency for a defendant in a drug possession and trafficking case.
The old colonial courtroom once again proved too small to house such a high-profile trial.
The minister took her place in the dock at 11.10am sharp, and the hearing, presided by judge Nicos Sandis, started soon afterwards, with state prosecutor Maria Malaktou informing the court that she would not be calling any witnesses.
Malaktou told the court that she would be submitting as evidence part of the testimony, which the defence had accepted as fact.
The prosecutor submitted the transcripts of several radio and television interviews or statements the minister took part in, which as they claimed, prove that she had send the letter to the judge.
They also submitted two letters by the defendant’s mother to Akkelidou, the minister’s correspondence with the people involved in the rehabilitation of the defendant, as well as her letter to the judge and that of an expert, which was attached.
Malaktou said that the drugs case was submitted on January 24, 2003 and the first hearing was set for March 14, 2004.
At some time in August, Akkelidou called deputy Attorney-general Petros Clerides and asked whether it would be possible to suspend the prosecution of the defendant, Malaktou said.
“The deputy Attorney-general’s reply was negative,” she added.
Akkelidou then gave instructions to her secretary to prepare a letter to be sent to the judge, together with a report from an expert concerning the rehabilitation course of the defendant.
“According to the minister’s instructions, the letter would be sent on her name as minister, but primarily as the chairwoman of the anti-drug council and it would present to the court all the information concerning the treatment of the defendant,” the court heard.
The letter was received by the court on September 10 and was immediately forwarded to judge Tereza Paraskevaidou Karakanna, who showed them to the public prosecutor handling the case.
She also sought the defence lawyer to inform him but he could not be found.
Malaktou told the court that the sorting of the evidence had finished yesterday morning and she had not had the time to assess what further testimony would be necessary.
In light of that, she asked Santis for a brief adjournment to assess the situation.
Santis adjourned the trial until Tuesday.
Speaking after the hearing, defence lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou said, “what happened is acceptable and the attached letters have been submitted”.
“The question is whether this is an offence or not, something the court will decide,” he added.
Efstathiou said that with yesterday’s submission of the evidence, 90 per cent of the case was finished.
He added that he was basing his defence on the fact that there was no intention whatsoever to interfere with the process.
