HEALTH MINISTER Dina Akkelidou resigned yesterday, shortly after a Nicosia district court found her guilty of interfering with the course of justice.
Akkelidou heard the verdict at noon. After remaining at the courthouse for around 45 minutes, she departed for the presidential palace with her husband, for a meeting with President Tassos Papadopoulos where she submitted her resignation.
Akkelidou emerged from the meeting with a written statement: “The court judged the procedure I followed as wrong: something I admitted from the first moment.”
“The court decision, which I fully respect, does not nullify my good intentions and does not eliminate the essence of the issue,” the former minister said.
She stressed the need for more sensitivity on issues related with the fight against drugs and the integration of drug addicts into society.
Akkelidou thanked the president for the trust he bestowed on her and her party AKEL, for its endorsement.
In a written statement, Papadopoulos said he had accepted the minister’s resignation.
“Independent of the various views, which everyone of us has a right to have in a democratic and lawful society and a just state, justice’s decisions are always respected,” the president said.
Commenting on the court decision, AKEL spokesman Andros Kyprianou stressed that court decisions were respected by his party.
His statements were made before Akkelidou’s resignation was known.
Kyprianou however took a shot at Attorney-general Solon Nikitas saying there had been many scandals in the country but the legal services had never shown such “excessive sensitivity” before.
He said he hoped the legal service displayed the same zeal in relation to many other cases including the stock market scandal.
Nikitas’ decision to launch criminal proceedings against Akkelidou was met with bitterness by AKEL and other parties in the government coalition.
Despite opposition calls for her resignation the moment the case broke in September, the government backed Akkelidou and played down the obvious question of political responsibility.
Initial calls for her resignation were rejected, and, while admitting her act had been wrong, most in the government coalition argued it was not an attempt to influence the course of justice.
Akkelidou, who received her portfolio 21 months ago, is not a stranger to controversy.
Calls for her resignation were first heard in July 2003 after classified documents were found abandoned in rubbish bags underneath the stairs at the Health Ministry.
It later emerged that she had ordered the documents to be removed from her office without knowing what they were.
In November last year, Akkelidou was embroiled in further controversy after the death of a 37-year-old woman who died after receiving fertility treatment at an unlicensed private clinic.
The clinic was at the centre of a Health Ministry scandal as conflicting reports emerged over who was responsible for calling off criminal proceedings against the clinic, following complaints concerning its illegality.
Akkelidou had suspended private clinics inspector Constantinos Mallis over the incident arguing that he should have never called off the initial investigation.
But, the head of the medical services, now awaiting trial in connection with the incident, responded by claiming it was Akkelidou who had given him verbal instructions to do so.
The minister has also taken the brunt of criticism over the decision to close down the Oncology Ward in the Nicosia hospital.
Education Minister Pefkios Georgiades would be filling in as health minister until a new appointment is made.
