By Constantinos Psillides
AKEL on Friday indefinitely suspended prominent member Nicos Katsourides apparently over his alleged involvement in the Dromolaxia scandal.
A party statement following a Central Committee meeting, said that “it has found mistakes, omissions, and culpability on behalf of members, and has made decisions that would be made known to the party soon.” It did not however, mention Katsourides who was not present at the meeting.
In the run up to the meeting it had been reported that the veteran MP would be suspended from the party because of his alleged involvement in the Dromolaxia scandal.
Being expelled from the party does not mean that Katsourides has to vacate his seat in the parliament.
The AKEL statement claimed that the party had nothing to do with the scandal and that any involvement was “invented by political adversaries to besmirch the party name.”
AKEL also claims that party member Venizelos Zanetos is innocent of any bribery charges and that nothing was proven in court against Zanettos.
The Dromolaxia scandal, a land scam involving the purchase by the CyTA Pension Fund of Turkish Cypriot property in Dromolaxia, Larnaca, and the construction of office space complex at an inflated price, saw five people convicted in January this year, including AKEL member Venizelos Zanettos.
Zanettos was sentenced to three and half years in prison, after he was found guilty of extorting money from the main prosecution witness, businessman Nikos Lillis.
Former CyTA board chairman Stathis Kittis, eight years, former EAC boss and former CyTA board member Charalambos Tsouris, three years, trade union representative and Cytavision director Orestis Vasiliou, nine years, and land registry official Gregoris Souroullas, six and a half years.
In his court testimony, Zanettos had said that Nicos Katsourides was also involved.
“They questioned the wrong man,” Zanettos had said, maintaining that police fell short of executing their duty to investigate the case fully.
In his verdict, the judge noted that Zanettos failed to substantiate his claims that Katsourides was in any way involved.
AKEL had always maintained that Zanettos was wrongfully accused.
