THE LIKELY non-prosecution of Leonidas Pantelides, the head of the President’s diplomatic office, is a “foul-up” that could have sweeping effects on the indictments regarding the Mari disaster, legal sources tell the Mail.
According to a leaked police report, Pantelides is not among the 12 people named as being liable to criminal charges.
But the independent investigation by Polis Polyviou holds Pantelides responsible for neglect of duty: it suggests that, after September 2010, Pantelides did not keep the President sufficiently informed about the state of the munitions despite being aware of hazard warnings from the military.
“Pantelides’ omission from criminal proceedings, if the published police report is indeed genuine, is a big foul-up in my view,” said the source.
“I believe Pantelides was left out because, otherwise, indicting him would have posed a serious problem for the Presidency. Calling him to the stand would have put Pantelides on the defensive. Pantelides might no longer feel obliged to protect the President, and in order to save his own skin he could conceivably tell the court that he did keep the President informed. That would open a whole new can of worms for Christofias, who is already under fire.”
Despite this, the lawyer does not see sinister forces at play: “Probably the police, being civil servants, did not want to get their boss – the President – into hot water. But I don’t think that they omitted Pantelides because they were ordered to do so by the Presidential Palace.
“So in the end, we may never know for certain what the President knew or didn’t know.”
On the inclusion of former Defence Minister Costas Papacostas, who according to the leaked police report could face charges of manslaughter and dereliction of duty causing bodily harm, the source said this could likewise turn problematic for the court case, but for different reasons.
Papacostas, as well as former Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou, could argue in court that they were following orders (from the President), and that is why they had not taken adequate steps to make the munitions safe and/or destroy them prior to the disaster.
This defence could be enough to get them off the hook, since in legal terms an official is obliged to carry out the President’s instructions – unless the instructions are manifestly illegal.
“The problem is, it’s very difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the supposed instructions to, say, keep the containers at Mari were illegal.”
As a result, knowing this the Attorney-general may feel he does not have a strong enough case to prosecute Papacostas and/or Kyprianou, the same source said.
The alleged police report says Kyprianou is “possibly” liable on the following charges: causing death due to an irresponsible, reckless or dangerous act; other negligent acts causing bodily harm; and neglect of official duty.
There may well be a political aspect to this “soft treatment” of Kyprianou, the lawyer said.
And while unfortunate, the reference to the two deceased naval officers in the alleged police report, may again be attributed to an attempt by the police force to please the President.
“Both legally and morally speaking, there was absolutely no need to mention these two men, since they are not prosecutable. But there you have it.”
