Christodoulides ‘Nothing to Say’ after ‘Mafia State’ Hearing

“I have nothing to say. I answered whatever I was asked,” Christodoulides said after testifying for one-and-a-half hours at the independent authority against corruption.

Legislation on the operation of the authority does not allow those testifying to disclose the content of their statements.

On arrival, at 8.55am for the 9am hearing, Christodoulides refrained from making any statements.
Drousiotis’ trilogy of books stirred a wave of controversy after he described Cyprus as a mafia state embroiled in corruption.

Christodoulides answered questions by the investigative team, led by Australian legal expert Gabrielle McIntyre.

One of the hot potatoes is the private jet used by former president Nicos Anastasiades. Anastasiades is the main target of criticism in Drousiotis’ books.

Drousiotis said in his book that Anastasiades had been facilitating Russian tycoon Dmitri Rybolovlev in his divorce from Elena Rybolovleva.

He also alleged that Rybolovlev had been picking up the tabs for Anastasiades’ travels abroad since 2015.
Drousiotis cited remarks by Christodoulides, who was serving as government spokesman at the time. According to Drousiotis, Christodoulides had said Rybolovlev was covering the cost of Anastasiades’ jet and not Greek Cypriot businessman Chris Lazari.

Anastasiades, who will be testifying on April 28, has recently published a book, in which he said Drousiotis was citing alleged dialogues between himself and the president’s associates.

The former president said Drousiotis had been corrected by Christodoulides regarding Lazari and Rybolovlev, which proved that Drousiotis’ book was an “ailing narrative”.

It is expected that Anastasiades will be submitting his book The Sycophant at the hearing, in which he answers to the allegations against him in Mafia State.

Anastasiades’ hearing will probably take a week.

The investigators’ report so far is a four-digit number of pages.

Source: Cyprus Mail