FORMER National Guard commander Constantinos Bisbikas said yesterday that he had never been instructed to find a safe area to locate munitions seized from a ship sailing to Syria in 2009, which exploded some two years later killing 13 and incapacitating the island’s main power station.
In fact Bisbikis said that on the day the Monchegorsk was detained in January 2009, he had suggested the cargo not be unloaded on Cypriot soil.
Testifying before an investigating committee, Bisbikas denied what was attributed to him by the minutes of a February 6, 2009 meeting in which he appears to be assuring President Demetris Christofias and others that he had found a suitable place to store the cargo that was officially confiscated on February 16.
Bisbikas said he had taken part in that meeting but he was never informed of the minutes and had only found out about them recently through media reports.
He said he had never said anything about finding a safe location, neither did he search for such a location.
Bisbikas said he left Cyprus on the afternoon of February 6 on scheduled leave until the evening of February 17.
In his absence, he was replaced by Savvas Argyrou, who was the National Guard’s second in command until he was sacked recently pending the investigation into the July 11 blast at the Evangelos Florakis naval base, near Vassilikos, where the cargo was eventually stored.
Bisbikas said he had taken part in a meeting with then Defence Minister Costas Papacostas on January 29, 2009 – the day the ship was detained in Cypriot waters – where he suggested that unloading the cargo on Cypriot soil be avoided, he said.
The former chief said the army had been ready to assist in providing security for the ship.
The meeting decided that the National Guard would help in securing the vessel while a committee was to be set up to inspect the cargo.
The officer heading the committee, Colonel Giorgos Georgiades, yesterday exercised his right not to respond to any questions the committee put to him.
His lawyer said that he and his client did not acknowledge any responsibility for the events since he had executed his duties based on instructions from his superiors.
Bisbikas was officially briefed of the decision to seize the 98 containers and store them at the naval base, which he visited.
There, he was told that the cargo, which was mainly made up of gunpowder, was sensitive but not dangerous at that specific time due to low temperatures.
The former commander said that if they had been told that the cargo would remain there for more than 2-3 months, they would have taken measures.
Asked if he had tried to find out from his staff or elsewhere why the base had been chosen, Bisbikas said “they didn’t know either; they were saying it was a political decision.”
Bisbikas finished his term on April 30, 2009 and was replaced by Petros Tsalikidis who resigned hours after the blast along with the Defence Minister.
