PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday conceded that he had known about the allegations that DIKO MEP Marios Matsakis sought £10,000 to ensure a police officer under investigation for attempted manslaughter would be acquitted.
Pressure grew on Matsakis yesterday, as the officer at the centre of the case challenged the deputy to deny that he had repeated conversations with him.
“If he admits we had these meetings, I challenge him to say what we spoke about,” Sergeant Yiannos Ioannou said in a statement issued through his lawyer.
Matsakis insists he is innocent.
Speaking from Brussels yesterday afternoon, the President admitted he had known about the case.
“Yes, I was informed and I did the only thing allowed under the circumstances and the right thing any President of the Republic would do: I said the issue was clearly an issue for the Attorney-general’s office to examine, irrespective of who was involved and what party he came from,” the President said.
Papadopoulos added that he had been informed by the police that there was not enough evidence for the deputy’s immunity to be lifted.
“I hope the era when the political authority had the nerve to intervene in the work of the Attorney-general has finished.
“Concerning me, this will never happen because I believe in the just, independent and objective implementation of the law and the constitution,” Papadopoulos said.
He went on to suggest that anyone with a different view concerning what the president should have done would only expose Cyprus for not observing the law strictly.
Earlier, both Justice Minister Doros Theodorou and the Government Spokesman had confirmed that Papadopoulos had known of the case since April 23.
The explosive revelations were made on Thursday by daily Politis, which published a police report detailing the meetings between Matsakis and the officer in question.
On Thursday, the government had refused to comment on the case, citing legal implications.
Yesterday, Theodorou confirmed what Politis had claimed on Thursday: that President Papadopoulos knew of the case.
He added that Papadopoulos had ordered for an investigation of the matter.
“He asked for the law to follow its course: that is for the issue to be referred immediately and without delay to the Attorney-general to handle the case in accordance with the law,” Theodorou said.
The minister also unleashed a scathing attack on opposition DISY, accusing them of trying to score political points from the situation.
“DISY should realise that the days of intervening with the work of the police have gone with no return and that the President and the government remain devoted to the respect of the law and the constitution,” he said.
Despite a grilling from journalists at his daily briefing, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides declined to comment on the essence of the issue, constantly repeating that the government could not intervene in judicial procedures.
He too did admit, however, that the President knew about the case, and reiterated that he had given instructions for it to be investigated.
“The government did what any government that respects the constitution, the law and itself would have done,” Chrysostomides said.
Asked whether Papadopoulos, as the chairman of DIKO, should have prevented Matsakis from running as candidate for the European Parliament, Chrysostomides said:
“It is an issue for the party for which I have no comment; ask DIKO.”
He added: “As the Government Spokesman, I do not comment on party politics.”
Chrysostomides conceded that the issue could have repercussions for Cyprus in Europe, but reiterated that there was nothing the government could do about it.
“What do you want the government to do without violating the Constitution and the law?”
But while Papadopoulos may have known about the case since April 23, if his party is to be believed, the president never bothered to inform DIKO in his capacity as the chairman.
The party’s deputy chairman Nicos Cleanthous claimed yesterday that he first heard of the matter on Thursday when Politis published the story.
“The party did not know anything.
“What we learned was through the press; thus any comments are superfluous, full stop,” Cleanthous said.
He added: “My positions and statements are clear; I have no other comment to make.”
DISY deputy chairman Socrates Hasikos rejected the Justice Minister’s accusations that the opposition was trying to exploit the situation and suggested that Matsakis should not have stood as candidate.
“In my opinion he should have resigned to avoid going through procedures to lift his immunity, thus allowing justice to investigate the matter,” Hasikos said.
AKEL spokesman Andros Kyprianou yesterday urged the authorities to resolve the case as soon as possible.
He said his party was fundamentally against covering up any case and noted that the state should intervene with determination to show society that there were people who cared.
