Ousted Edek member testifies to police over party leader’s ‘sting operation’

MEP Demetris Papadakis who was ousted from his party, Edek, earlier this week submitted information to the police on Saturday regarding the claims against him by party leader Marinos Sizopoulos.

The former Edek member, who retains his MEP seat, went on Saturday with his lawyer to the police headquarters in Nicosia to testify.

Edek has accused Papadakis of allegedly misusing EU funds, while Papadakis has accused Sizopoulos of ordering an undercover sting operation against him to destroy him politically.

Papadaki’s lawyer, Fanos Andreou told state broadcaster CyBC on Saturday that the MEP’s office had been broken into three times. The MEP also filed complaints against close associates of Sizopoulos.

He also said that Papadakis would also seek the involvement of Olaf, the European anti-fraud office that investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption and serious misconduct within the European institutions.

Sizopoulos on Friday declined to give police a statement over his allegations, insisting that the information was passed on to EU authorities.

Police chief Kypros Michaelides said on Saturday that, based on Papadakis’ testimony, they would look into whether Sizopoulos would be called in to testify.

Michaelides chaired a meeting later in the day to discuss developments as regards the Edek case but also that of the police’s ongoing investigations into match-fixing in football.

Police said that they consider these two cases extremely important and that the force’s leadership is closely monitoring the progress of the investigations.

During the meeting, extensive information was provided on the progress of investigations into the two cases, while instructions were given for the subsequent course of investigations, police said.

 

 

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.