By George Psyllides
THREE men, including two members of former ruling party AKEL, were remanded in custody for seven days yesterday in connection with a suspicious land deal involving the state telecommunication company (CyTA) pension fund.
Venizelos Zanettos, 66, and Christos Alecou, 57, both members of the party’s secretariat, and 55-year-old Antonis Ioakim, were arrested on Wednesday in connection with a €20.5 million deal concerning land in Dromolaxia, Larnaca.
The two party members were cheered upon their arrival at the courthouse by some 20 AKEL supporters.
The court also ordered CyTA chairman Stathis Kittis, arrested for the same case, to remain in custody for a further three days.
Kittis had been initially remanded in custody for eight days. He fell ill after spending five days in custody and was transferred to Nicosia general hospital where the court had to convene yesterday.
The court will today announce its decision regarding a police request to keep three other suspects in custody for a further eight days.
Senior CyTA employee Yiannis Souroullas and his brother Gregoris, who works for the land registry, and union rep Orestis Vassiliou, had been arrested along with Kittis eight days ago.
They are all suspected of receiving hundreds of thousands of euros in kickbacks.
AKEL insisted yesterday that the arrest of its members was politically motivated in an effort to hurt the party.
Following a meeting of its central committee, AKEL said it would defend itself with all legal means at its disposal.
Police said the three had been named by businessman Nicos Lillis who has already been charged in connection with the case.
The land deal in question involved the purchase by CyTA’s pension fund of office space near Larnaca airport at a price reportedly several times the going market value.
Allegations have surfaced that millions were paid in kickbacks to make the deal possible.
Along with Lillis, prosecutors have charged two police officers, Costas Miamiliotis and Lefteris Mouskou, in connection with the case.
The officers were allegedly paid to produce a false report saying the Turkish Cypriot seller of the land had resided in the government-controlled areas for six months – a necessary condition — prior to selling the land.
Lillis and the two officers were scheduled to appear before the criminal court yesterday but the attorney-general withdrew the case and referred it to the district court instead.
Unlike the criminal courts that can jail people for life, depending on the offense, the maximum custodial sentence imposed by district courts is five years.
