POLICE YESTERDAY confirmed reports that a professional hit had been put out on Attorney-general Petros Clerides after he allegedly refused to pander to a convicted felon’s demands regarding a reduction in his prison sentence.
Meanwhile the AG hit back at his potential killers and said he would not be intimidated into stepping down and that he had no intention of resigning from office.
Police put out a statement after the news made front page news on yesterday’s Politis. “We acted immediately and all necessary steps were taken to prevent a crime,” police said.
“The situation is constantly being monitored and discrete and effective measures are being taken… The investigations are continuing and further publication of information only harms the investigation,” the statement read.
According to the local daily the professional killers hired to take out Clerides have links to the same criminal ring that had carried out last month’s hit on former cabaret boss Michalakis Kakathymis in Limassol.
Apparently CID investigators discovered that Clerides allegedly became a target when he refused to include convicted felon Sotiris Athinis’ name on a list eligible for pardon. This was because Athinis, who is thought to have masterminded the July 17 killing of his 67-year-old former partner, is serving a 25 year jail sentence in connection with a huge drugs bust and therefore not entitled for any sort of pardon. Specifically it is thought Athinis wanted at least a quarter of his sentence erased. When the AG turned down his request, Clerides made the convict’s death list. The professional hitmen who flew in from abroad to take out Kakathymis were due to come back to carry out a second wave of contract killings, including the AG.
The information that Clerides had been targeted is said to have forced authorities into action leading to a snowball of information regarding an organised crime ring and its ties to criminal activities being carried out from Athinis’ cell at Nicosia’s Central Prisons.
The AG was apparently told of the information as were other targets on the same hit list. In the meantime steps were taken to protect both the AG and his immediate family, with Clerides receiving continuous updates regarding the course of the investigation.
Speaking to reporters yesterday the AG said he would not be intimated into leaving his post.
Addressing the criminals who had targeted him Clerides said he had no intention of standing down and that state officials who were afraid should abandon their positions but that he would not be leaving his.
“Every official has an obligation to carry out his duty and nothing more. If out of fear they feel they cannot do their duty then they should leave. I am not likely to leave,” said Clerides.
Also commenting on the Politis story was Justice Minister Loucas Louca.
He said: “Tere is such information and we cannot deny the publication… The police has taken all necessary measures and is taking all appropriate measures to deal with these phenomena.”
Louca was speaking to reporters following a meeting with Greek Ambassador to Cyprus Vasilios Papaioannou.
The minister could not be coaxed into revealing the contents of the conversation he’d held with Clerides regarding the issue. Nevertheless he said he did not know when the planned hit had been due to be carried out.
“For over a month police, with all seriousness, professionalism and trusted, appropriate actions, have taken all necessary steps so as to prevent any crime, not only against the Attorney-general, but against any target,” said Louca.
Meanwhile a Limassol Court yesterday extended for another eight days the remand of a 35-year-old man in connection Kakathymis’ murder and today a 45-year-old is also expected to appear in court where investigators will ask for an extension of his remand in connection with the same case.
