DEPUTY Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas yesterday reiterated that former police chief Iacovos Papacostas’ criminal prosecution regarding the Antonis Prokopiou Kitas debacle had never been on the cards.
Papasavvas said both he and AG Petros Clerides had reached the conclusion that five people were criminally responsible for the whole affair and Papacostas was not one of them. He also said the mix-up regarding the number of people facing prosecution had obviously been a mistake and that the total number of those facing criminal prosecution (five) had been confused with the total number facing disciplinary prosecution (six).
The deputy AG was speaking on CyBC’s early morning breakfast and had been asked to comment on the publication of a photograph depicting a list of names in Clerides’ possession at Friday’s news conference. The second name on the list was Papacostas’ and alongside it were a list of charges. The first name was Kitas’.
“It is nothing more and nothing less than a sad situation and image,” he said.
Papasavas said the AG had called the news conference in good faith to answer all questions regarding what conclusions both he and Clerides had reached regarding the criminal investigation into the Kitas fiasco.
Speaking metaphorically he said it had been wrong to effectively “pickpocket” the information from the AG without first checking what it meant.
“When he is holding some papers and you go to get something from on top of him at the very least you should ask him what significance they have,” he said.
The deputy’s implication was that reporters had jumped to the wrong conclusions by assuming the inclusion of Papacostas’ name had meant he was facing prosecution. The fact that Papasavvas later confirmed the former police chief was not among the five suspects, prompted further speculation that a behind the scenes trade-off had taken place to spare Papacostas although initially he had been facing indictment.
Papacostas stepped down as police chief on Thursday, one day before Clerides called a news conference to announce his conclusions after examining the criminal investigators’ reports into the incarceration, escape and subsequent recapturing of Kitas, a man convicted of two life sentences.
The deputy AG said the legal reality had been twisted and that only he and Clerides had the authority to press charges. With this in mind how could there have been any backdoor dealings, he asked.
“Who removed and from where was it removed? We removed from ourselves? We made trade-offs with ourselves?”
Papasavvas said the criminal investigators had been allowed to make their own suggestions about who should be prosecuted but that this did not mean he or the AG agreed with them.
“The obligation of the AG and deputy is to make our own evaluations… so these numbers are suggestions of one or some criminal investigators,” he said.
Justice Minister Loucas Louca also expressed his displeasure that the AG’s decision not to prosecute Papacostas had raised more than a few eyebrows.
“The Attorney-general and the judicial process is a state institution. This institution must be protected. It must not be undermined and doubted,” he said.
Louca said people must not simply react from publications or information and immediately challenge the AG. He said the latter had reached his conclusion and given his explanation.
“Heaven help us if we doubt the AG. He is an institution not a person. An institution,” stressed the minister.
Regarding the suspension of a total of six prison staff apportioned with disciplinary offences, Louca said the ministry would examine the issue in detail as soon as it was given a full briefing. Nevertheless all six would face disciplinary action, as long as this did not overlap with any criminal prosecutions, which took precedence, he said.
Kitas, also known as Al Capone, was jailed for the brutal abductions, rapes and murders of Oksana Lisna, 20, and Christina Ahfeldt, 28 in 1993. He escaped from the Appollonion private hospital in Nicosia in December where he and been receiving treatment for gastric reflux. An island wide manhunt ensued in his recapture on January 5.
Head of the president’s office Vassos Georgiou yesterday explained that the reason a letter addressed to the president by Kitas’ lawyer last year had never made it to Demetris Christofias was because it had been referred on to the Legal Services instead.
Georgiou said the president received hundreds of letters and that it was up to his staff to determine who dealt with what. Regarding this specific letter, it had been a request to have the convict sent to Greece for medical treatment.
“The President of the Republic and officials who help him are not the competent authority to make medical decisions if a convict goes abroad or not,” he said.
The letter was therefore forwarded to the Legal Services which turned down the request, he said.
The issue was raised yesterday after DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou demanded answers as to why the letter had not been part of the criminal investigation and why the president had never seen the document.
Both deputy AG Papasavvas and Georgiou said the letter had had no bearing on the investigation.
