‘If anyone is prosecuted, the public will hear about it when they are charged and when the evidence is heard in court’
ATTORNEY-general Petros Clerides said yesterday he would need at least another month before deciding what steps to take regarding the debacle surrounding the escape of convicted double rapist and murderer Antonis Prokopiou Kitas.
Speaking to the media, Clerides said both he and his deputy, Akis Papasavvas, had read through the two reports prepared by the seven criminal investigators but the details needed a lot more examination.
The duo received a copy of the lengthy reports on Friday. Clerides reiterated that the existence of two reports was unorthodox but said investigators had a right to act independently and as they saw fit.
“We didn’t guide them in any way or indicate what sort of conclusion we wanted… We have gotten an idea of their conclusions and (have) read a summary of the evidence but the details need much more scrutiny,” he said.
The AG said it was likely he and Papasavvas would recruit other Legal Services officials to assist in doing so.
“We will examine the evidence to see if the suggestions made by the investigators are justified or not and whether it leads to criminal or disciplinary charges, or no charges whatsoever,” he said.
Clerides said he expected to have reached a conclusion by mid-June, just after the Euro elections.
Six of the investigators drew up one report and the seventh investigator wrote his own. The first report is thought to apportion both criminal and disciplinary responsibility to police and prison officials, while the second report is believed to apportion only disciplinary responsibility.
The AG accused the media of unsubstantiated speculation regarding the contents of the report, including who was to blame and how many people were criminally and disciplinary responsible for last December’s fiasco.
A lot of finger-pointing had taken place over the weekend, singling out Police Chief Iacovos Papacostas and suspended Central Prisons warden Michael Hadjidemetriou.
Clerides made it clear the only person who had a right to determine whether anyone should face disciplinary or criminal charges was his office. The courts would then decide whether the evidence was sufficient to convict or not, he said.
“We are not going to make the report public. Just as no criminal report has ever been made public. If anyone is prosecuted, the public will hear about it when they are charged and when the evidence is heard in court,” he said.
Clerides was referring to calls from opposition DISY to go public with the contents of the report.
The AG said the president did not need informing before then either.
During the lunchtime news conference Clerides was careful not to give anything away regarding the criminal investigators’ conclusions. He would not even confirm whether or not two Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU) officers remanded and later released without charge during the course of the enquiry had been implicated in either report.
“I will not say how many people or who [are implicated]. That is totally unacceptable and I would have to leave this chair. Heaven forbid if from one statement or piece of evidence was I to say ‘so and so is to blame’. That is up to the court,” he said.
Nevertheless what was definite was the fact that the entire debacle had uncovered there were “diseased and corrupt” elements that would be rooted out, he said.
“The facts speak for themselves. A man who was convicted of two murders and was in an area [a private Nicosia hospital], where he had visits, blackmailed, and behaved in a manner described in the press and on television, in a way that created an unacceptable situation,” said Clerides.
Even if no one was found criminally responsible that did not mean there was no political or ethical responsibility to be apportioned, he added.
Kitas, also known as Al Capone, was jailed for life 15 years ago for the brutal abductions, rapes and murders of Oksana Lisna, 20, and Christina Ahfeldt, 28, in 1993. He escaped from the Appollonion private hospital in Nicosia in December where he and been receiving treatment for gastric reflux. An island-wide manhunt ensued and he was recaptured on January 5.
