FIVE people will face the dock on criminal charges relating to the 2005 Helios air accident, Attorney-general Petros Clerides revealed yesterday.
Speaking to reporters, the AG said his office had decided to prosecute after a careful review of the police probe into the disaster and its causes
But the top lawman declined to name names or spell out the precise indictments, leaving room for a great deal of speculation until the case is filed.
That’s not expected to happen for at least another two to three months, although again Clerides was cagey about the timeframe.
“I have given instructions for the bill of indictment to be written up… it concerns most serious offenses of the criminal code,” he said.
Asked when he expected the prosecutions to be filed with a criminal court, the AG offered a laconic answer: “In the normal period of time.”
Moreover, one more person would be placed under “to assist with the case”, he added.
Clerides refused flatly to disclose anything about the nature of the charges – such as whether they concerned criminal negligence, for instance. But faced with persistent questioning, he said the charges were the same across the board for all five persons.
“Prosecutions are not tantamount to a conviction in court,” he cautioned, adding: “Every person is innocent until proved guilty.”
The AG hinted he was being cautious because he did not want the affair to degenerate into a public tribunal.
“We are not out to get vigilante justice,” he remarked.
Flanking him, Clerides’ deputy Akis Papasavvas pleaded with the media to avoid inciting a witch-hunt in the meantime.
“This should not be a vendetta… justice must run its course,” said the deputy AG.
Clerides said also that double jeopardy – which precludes prosecuting the same person on identical charges at two different venues – should not be a problem.
Authorities in Greece are conducting their own criminal investigation. Recent reports said that charges ranging from murder to negligence have been filed by authorities there against six former Helios Airways officials.
Pressed once too many for details, such as whether the five indictees in Cyprus were individuals and/or legal entities, an annoyed Clerides blurted out:
“What is this, 20 questions?”
The AG withstood a barrage of questions concerning the persons’ identity. Asked whether the five included civil servants, he offered a ‘no comment’.
“If you want to deduce that public officers are responsible, then you are free to do so,” he told newsmen.
The cryptic remark seemed to suggest that the above assumption was wrong. If so, it would rule out members of Civil Aviation from the list of five indictees.
Clerides said that in reaching a decision his office had been “guided” by three volumes of work: the actual accident probe of 2005, the findings of a local committee of inquiry, and the criminal investigation carried out by the police.
On August 14, 2005 a Cypriot jet out of Larnaca slammed into hilly terrain 40km outside Athens; all 121 people on board were killed.
The subsequent accident probe blamed the captain and co-pilot primarily, but also cited “oversight deficiencies” with the department of Civil Aviation.
The Kallis committee of inquiry, whose findings were never released, is believed to have named nine individuals from Helios Airways as well as from Civil Aviation as liable.
To the friends and relatives of the victims, yesterday’s news was a mixed can of beans.
Waiting at the steps outside the AG’s headquarters was Prodromos Prodromou, uncle of Andreas Prodromou, the flight steward believed to have made a futile attempt to regain control of the plane before it crashed into a ravine
“We would have liked, at the very least, a fixed deadline on the charges. We have waited long enough,” he said.
Prodromou was also unhappy with the fact the Attorney-general would not summon the relatives for an official briefing.
The sentiment was shared by Nicolas Yiasoumi, spokesman for a committee representing the bereaved relatives.
“We are not a lynch mob… but perhaps more than five people should have been charged,” he told state radio.
“For us, 121 persons were murdered in the air,” he added.
Speaking to the Mail later in the day, Yiasoumi said that on the one hand they welcomed the decision as a step forward, however belatedly. On the other, he was none too impressed with the Attorney-general’s cloak-and-dagger attitude.
Not knowing when the case will be filed, let alone make it to trial, was “especially disconcerting,” said Yiasoumi.
“What we fear the most, is that time itself may exonerate the guilty. There have been cases which took too long getting to court, and by that time witnesses said they did not recall the events.”
