Petros Clerides named to replace Nikitas

ASSISTANT Attorney-general Petros Clerides was yesterday appointed Attorney-general, replacing Solon Nikitas who resigned last week after the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of former health minister Dina Akkelidou.

In an official statement, President Tassos Papadopoulos announced Clerides’ appointment, adding that no assistant would be appointed at this point.
Clerides will be sworn in next week.

The appointment puts an end to speculation regarding the position, which was vacated by Nikitas, who resigned, in an unprecedented move, in protest at the Supreme Court majority decision to acquit Akkelidou, who had been convicted for perverting the course of justice.

Akkelidou had sent a Larnaca judge a letter pleading for leniency for a man on trial for drugs trafficking.

In a written statement, which followed shortly after the announcement of the appellate court’s ruling, Nikitas implied the decision had been political rather than legal.

He described it as groundless and lacking any legal support, raising questions about the “principle of the rule of law and the democratic principle of the separation of powers”.

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