BELEAGUED Euro MEP Marios Matsakis has had one of two corruption charges against him dropped after intervention from the Attorney-general.
Matsakis’ parliamentary immunity had been lifted for the trial but it has been ruled that the court procedure is not allowed to interfere with his parliamentary duties in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Formerly of DIKO, Matsakis is accused of failing to declare his vast collection of antiques, after police seized a large number of chests and urns during a raid on his home in the village of Pyrga.
He also faces separate charges of compounding a felony and corruption in connection with allegations that he offered to change his pathologist’s report in a case involving the shooting of a drug suspect for a fee of £10,000.
Some of the controversial MEP’s wild antics in the past have included using commando tactics to enter British sovereign base areas, running into the buffer zone to snatch the Turkish flag and walking into the Turkish occupied north to hand Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat a chocolate cake knowing full well that he is wanted for arrest in the north.
Addressing the court on Monday, State Prosecutor Elias Stephanou told Judge Lemonia Kaoutzani that since the Sergeant, accused of shooting a suspect in one of the corruption cases against him, had been found not guilty it had been decided following a ruling by the Attorney-general that the specific charge could not stand.
According to the charge sheet, the charge dropped stated that “the defendant had agreed to accept the sum of £10,000 from an YKAN Sergeant to change his medical report, in the event that the Sergeant is charged in a court of law, so as to create doubt as to whether the Sergeant was responsible for the injury of shooting a civilian, thus exonerating from the incident.”
Last Monday, the court had also heard defence lawyer Christos Klerides request the second similar charge to be dropped, something the prosecution objected to.
The judge said that she would come to a decision regarding the second charge this coming Monday.
In 2004, Politis newspaper published a story about how a drug squad deputy chief had detailed the events of the case revealing how Matsakis had reportedly tried to influence the Sergeant, from the shooting incident back in January up until April, when the ‘deal’ between Matsakis and the police officer alleged fell through.
The sergeant had reportedly taped the conversations after informing his superiors what Matsakis had said.
After arranging a meeting, the Sergeant showed Matsakis half the money agreed and asked for a couple of days more to find the rest. The two men arranged to meet in the evening of Friday, April 30 to finish the deal. That was where the report ended.
Matsakis dismissed the claims saying that he was innocent. He still denies the claims.
