Anastasiades law firm appeals to court over full Mafia State dossier

The law firm of former president Nicos Anastasiades has filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals against the anti-corruption authority, seeking access to the complete report compiled by its inspectors into the Mafia State case, as reported by Cyprus Mail.

The authority confirmed to the newspaper that the appeal was lodged by Nikos Chr Anastasiades and Partners LLC, and that it names Transparency Commissioner Haris Pogiadjis along with members of the authority as respondents. The firm is seeking full disclosure of the inspectors' findings concerning Anastasiades and two of his firm's partner lawyers.

The full dossier runs to approximately 3,000 pages, compiled from 200 investigative sessions, testimony from 150 people and 793 pieces of submitted evidence. According to the authority, this is the first time such an appeal has been filed against it since its establishment, and its outcome will determine whether named individuals in future cases can access the complete body of evidence and findings gathered against them before criminal investigators complete their work.

Under the authority's standard process, inspectors compile a report setting out potential criminal responsibilities, which is then forwarded to the attorney-general for further investigation if sufficient grounds are found. To date only a small number of cases have reached that threshold, among them the Trimiklini case, former Edek president Marinos Sizopoulos, Nicosia sewerage board director Konstantinos Parmaklis, and now the 15 individuals and legal entities named in the Mafia State findings.

The authority's report, issued on June 16, attributes seven possible offences to Anastasiades: three counts of trading in influence, one count of abuse of power classified as a criminal offence, and three further counts of attempted commission of a criminal offence, classified as misdemeanours. Two of his former law firm partners, Stathis Lemis and Fanos Philippou, each face one count of trading in influence and one count of money laundering, while the firm itself faces the same two charges.

Anastasiades has rejected the findings in full, saying he was not made aware of the complete case against him and reserving his legal rights. In an earlier detailed defence, he argued that the authority's inspectors had "violated essential legal rules which govern any investigation" and said the report had fallen "far short of expectations for an investigation of such scope and public interest".

The criminal investigation into the findings is already under way, with a panel of five independent criminal investigators, led by Vasileios Skouris, former president of the EU Court of Justice, holding its first meeting on Monday to set a schedule for taking depositions. The panel was appointed after attorney-general George Savvides and deputy attorney-general Savvas Angelides recused themselves from the case, having both been appointed to their posts by Anastasiades during his presidency and having served in his cabinet at the time. Police have also formed a supporting investigative team of seven officers to assist the independent panel.