A Paphos municipal councillor, one of five accused in the Paphos sewerage board (SAPA) trial, visited former Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas in prison by posing as his lawyer, a prison guard told Paphos criminal court on Monday.
Prison guard Theocharis Palaontas was testifying against councillor Yiorgos Shailis who, along with four former councillors including another former Paphos mayor and sitting MP Fidias Sarikas, is accused of having accepted bribes from private contractors to award contracts.
Two more individuals, Vergas and former SAPA director Eftichios Malekkides, are serving six-year jail terms after confessing to taking bribes.
After a video from prison closed-circuit cameras was shown in court, in which Shailis was shown visiting Vergas in custody, Palaontas said the defendant was allowed to visit the former mayor in the designated area where lawyers meet their clients because he had presented himself as his lawyer.
During cross-examination, defence counsel Costas Shailis – the defendant’s brother – tried to discredit Palaontas by reminding the court that he had been suspended in the past, and was thus vulnerable to pressure from his superiors.
The witness admitted to having been accused of criminal impersonation but was acquitted in court.
Counsel then argued that the warden knew – or should have known – who Vergas’ lawyers are, and claimed that although his client was visited by Shailis, it was not as his lawyer.
“You made a mistake and recorded my client as Vergas’ lawyer, which is why you placed them in the lawyer-client meeting room,” counsel argued.
Palaontas denied the defence’s assertions.
Following the prison guard, Paphos municipal councillor – and SAPA board member – Polis Polidorou took the witness stand.
Polidorou referred to a meeting with the manager of Envitec – the contractor who won the SAPA contract – Christos Drakopoulos in a Paphos hotel around the end of 2013.
During this meeting, he added, he saw defendant Yiorgos Shailis from a distance, but he had not been with Drakopoulos.
He assumed that Drakopoulos had asked to meet Shailis to ask for his support at SAPA board meetings.
But, he noted, he was not aware whether Shailis had asked for money in return for his support.
Polidorou denied a round-table meeting between himself, Vergas, Drakopoulos, and Shailis, ever took place.
At the meeting with Drakopoulos, the witness recalled, the Greek businessman explained the terms of the contract his company had won.
Polidorou said he told Drakopoulos that if his company’s demands were reasonable, they would get his vote; if not, they wouldn’t.
He told the court that he had realised that an effort to bribe him for his support in board meetings was underway.
Drakopoulos, he said, had offered to give him grants if he were to support Envitec’s demands, but the councillor said he wanted nothing to do with it.
He also claimed to have shared this with Vergas, who then asked him how he planned to cover his next election campaign’s cost, implying he would be unable to without kickbacks.
Following Polidorou’s testimony, the court adjourned for May 26 and 27.
