SUSPENDED FIRE Chief Andreas Nicolaou has appealed to the Supreme Court against his suspension following the Mari naval base blast, arguing the decisions is “void” and “illegal”.
Nicolaou appealed to the country’s top court on Thursday, claiming the decision to suspend him on July 27 following the launch of criminal and disciplinary investigations against him was “void, illegal and lacking any legal effect”.
Represented by the law firm Andreas Angelides and Michalis Vorkas, Nicolaou he also filed a separate appeal requesting that the court suspend the July 27 decision taken by Justice Minister Loucas Louca until the first appeal can be heard by the Supreme Court. Three other senior fire service officials, suspended with Nicolaou on July 27, are also being investigated.
In a written statement submitted to the court, Nicolaou said as fire service chief, the service had never been called to inspect explosives or ammunitions at any National Guard camps, adding that the service does not even have experts on ammunitions and their storage.
In reference to the Russian-owned, Cypriot-flagged ship, the Monchegorsk, carrying the 98 containers which exploded on July 11, killing 13 people, he said: “Regarding the ship carrying the containers and the process of unloading and transferring them to the Mari base, the fire service and I personally had no involvement. Those were political decisions taken by other services.”
In fact, from the moment the containers were taken to the naval base, the fire service was never called to give its opinion or participate in any meeting until July 6, 2011, he argued.
According to Nicolaou’s statement, the Defence Ministry asked the fire service to send an officer for an onsite inspection of the containers. The inspection was coordinated by the National Guard, not the fire service, he said.
The following day, on July 7, Nicolaou said he was briefed by the senior officer sent to the onsite inspection, after which no further measures were requested of the service. On July 8, he took pre-approved leave, and on the fatal day of the tragedy, July 11, was abroad with his family.
The suspended chief rejected the suggestion that either he or the service had any responsibility for the blast, maintaining that neither he nor the service was briefed on the storage of the containers.
Police are looking into allegations that Nicolaou allegedly failed to take any safety measures despite knowing since February 2009 that 98 containers with flammable and dangerous material were being stored at the Mari naval base.
