Filenews 11 July 2023 - by Fanis Makrides
More than three months after his illegal flight from Cyprus, Gal Luft gave signs of life. And he did this through visual material he transmitted to the well-known American publication New York Post.
Through his recorded speeches he is presented expressing his positions on his arrest in Cyprus, without giving any indication of the country where he is.
The video was obtained by columnist Miranda Devine, who writes for the American newspaper. The journalist made it public last Wednesday in her column, and as she notes, the 14-year-old fugitive professor's 56-minute speech took place while he was being sought.
Luft directed the Washington-based Institute for International Security Analysis and was an adviser to the U.S. Energy Security Council. He is a former lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army.
Luft was arrested on February 16 at Larnaka airport, on the basis of a red notice issued by the US Federal Police (FBI). He was ready to travel to Tel Aviv. He was wanted for alleged arms exports to Libya and China between 2015 and 2023.
At the request of his lawyer at the Larnaca District Court, which would decide whether or not to extradite him to the US, it was decided to release him under strict conditions. He was set to pay €150,000 as collateral, to guarantee a creditworthy guarantor for another €250,000 and to report to the central police station of Pafos (he resided in that district) at regular intervals.
He managed to fulfil the conditions and was released. However, on March 28 he did not show up at the police station to sign as he was due. On the same day, his Greek Cypriot lawyer had declared Luft missing at the Pafos ICF, while expressing concern for his client's life.
The next day, following a police investigation, the vehicle Luft was using in Cyprus to move around was located. It was abandoned in an area of Dhekelia. The police authorities expressed the position that the most likely scenario is that he escaped through Pyla. Luft was due to appear before a court on April 3.
In the footage obtained by the New York Post, Luft claims that he was arrested in Cyprus in order to prevent him from testifying to the Congressional Oversight Committee on his allegations that US President Joe Biden's family received payments from persons connected to Chinese espionage and shared information obtained with them.
Luft says he supplied relevant witness material to six FBI officials and the U.S. Department of Justice at a secret meeting in Brussels in March 2019, but says there was a cover-up.
In the video, he is seen saying: "I'm not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I have no political motive or agenda. I did so because of my deep concern that if the Bidens came to power, the country would face the same traumatic collusion scandal with Russia, only this time it would be with China."
It should be noted that a police source from Cyprus said yesterday that it is now a matter for the US authorities to locate and arrest him. He added that as soon as his absconding was discovered, "the Cyprus Police informed the US requesting his extradition through the appropriate Interpol channels
