Whistleblower will most likely end up living abroad

THEOPHANIS Hadjigeorgious, the man who has allegedly confessed to driving Andis Hadjicostis’s murderer to and from his home the night of January 11, is reportedly set to enter the government’s witness protection programme.

The Cyprus witness protection programme has been operational for the past twelve years.

“I believe this programme is successful,” said DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou, chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee.

According to Nicolaou, witnesses either stay in Cyprus or travel abroad and are provided money for one to two years to pay for living expenses and accommodation until they find employment.

Nicolaou said that although some witnesses have complained that the money the programme provides, particularly to those living overseas, is not enough, “the programme is working.”

In Hadjigeorgious’s case the programme will protect him until he testifies in court. Afterwards he will be provided money and likely sent abroad.

The Attorney general chooses who may participate in the programme depending on the nature and seriousness of the crime, the type of evidence the witness possesses, and how much danger he faces in providing that evidence to the court. If the crime is significant and the witness possesses crucial, air-tight evidence, the Attorney-general will likely choose to enrol the witness in the programme to safeguard him until he testifies.

Cyprus’s programme does not always change the witness’s identity, said Nicolaou. Whether it is changed again depends on “the seriousness of the case and the dangers witnesses face after they give their evidence to the court.”

Witnesses who leave the country are allowed to return to Cyprus and assume their original identity at any time of their choosing, although Nicolaou revealed that due to the dangers they face in returning, “most of them do not.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.