Why does Christofias get off scot free?

Following the court verdict on the Mari case on Tuesday, July 9, which found, former defence minister Costas   Papacostas guilty of manslaughter and facing life in prison, what then of the former president who personally accepted this dangerous cargo knowing full well that Cyprus did not have the facilities for their safe storage and who ignored calls from the UN to accept help from other countries. Is this not a crime more serious than that committed by Papacostas?

It is no surprise that the AG decided not to lift Christofias’ immunity from prosecution; after all it was Christofias who appointed him in the first place. We all see every day how the Akelites stick together and defend each other to the hilt. Perhaps the AG should resign to make room for someone else who is able to recognise that Christofias’ immunity needs to be lifted so that he is able to answer such charges in court.

It is not only the statements in court that implicate Christofias it is also the in-depth Poliviou investigation (appointed by Christofias himself) that blamed the President primarily for being responsible for the Mari explosion. Everybody has read the papers, we all know what happened. Each one of us faced with this knowledge of a criminal act having being committed has to make a decision to report it to the police otherwise we are obstructing justice and we are equally guilty of those acts.

The government is responsible for ensuring that such criminal acts are dealt with by the courts. Otherwise the government is obstructing justice and isequally guilty for these acts. This is a test to see if this country is aresponsible European state or a banana republic-which is it?

Andreas Georgiou, Paphos

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