Filenews 15 June 2024 - by Fanis Makrides
A case that is being criminally investigated in Russia and has gained dimensions through articles in the country's press, involves a retired officer of the Cyprus Police and indirectly the police force of our island.
The former officer, who is in his sixth decade, is presented by Russian media as having given written testimony to Russian authorities in the context of an investigation of a criminal case in 2019, in which he allegedly a few years earlier and specifically in 2015 hijacked his status to serve his lawyer friend and multimillionaire client. The latter reported the abduction of her newborn child in Cyprus by her ex-partner and surrogate mother who had undertaken to give birth to the child for a fee.
The former officer, with a testimony bearing his signature, appears to have claimed in 2015 that he had the right acquaintances to pull the strings and the complaint of the well-known businesswoman to be examined by the ICF Headquarters. In the same testimony, the retired Cypriot police officer said he was present when the Russian multimillionaire offered €1.3 million to a Greek Cypriot criminal group leader in Nicosia to track down two people and kill them.
Just recently, the same former officer contacted Russian prosecutors about being blackmailed into giving written testimony in 2019. An attitude that, as we have seen, provokes a variety of comments on news platforms.
Even if in 2019 he was blackmailed into testifying what he testified, his involvement in the case is not justified in any way since he served in a unit with operational duties. Moreover, even if he were in an ICF, his involvement in the case should only be official and not personal. Besides, if in 2019 he was blackmailed into making false statements, why did it take him five years to refute a testimony extracted from him by fraudulent means?
All these issues were raised by "F" in an official way to a competent officer of the Cyprus Police. We have been asked to send the issues raised in writing and, having done so, we have been assured that the matter will be dealt with and given the official positions of the House.
The Mirimskaya case
The former Greek Cypriot officer was involved in the well-known case of Olga Mirimskaya. The businesswoman in question was due to have a child with her then-boyfriend, Nikolai Smirnov, via surrogacy. Mirimskaya and Smirnov divorced, while the surrogate mother was on our island with the child. Mirimskaya went to Cyprus in the summer of 2015 reporting abduction of her child to the Cypriot police. That's when the police officer, allegedly through the mediation of a friend of the Cypriot lawyer, met with the businesswoman and promised to help her forward the case to the ICF Headquarters.
According to the Russian newspaper kommersant, the police officer traveled to Russia in the summer of 2019 and gave a statement to prosecutors. In this written testimony bearing his signature, he appears to say that he was present at a meeting in Mirimskaya with a Greek Cypriot leader of a criminal group. At that meeting, according to what the former police official appears to have testified, the Russian businesswoman allegedly offered €1.3 million. to the leader of the criminal group. Mirimskaya, based on the contents of the testimony, allegedly asked the latter to find her ex-partner's lawyer in Cyprus, force him to tell where the surrogate mother was hiding with her child and then kill them.
As the kommersant newspaper writes, the officer a few days ago recanted what he had testified in 2019. He reportedly contacted an investigative committee on Mirimskaya's case and the prosecutor's office in the Russian region handling the case and said he did not give such a statement but was pressured to sign its contents under pressure from his lawyer Nikolai Smirnov, Mirimskaya's former partner. The former officer also allegedly claimed that he was interrogated for a long time without rest and food and threatened arrest in Russia.
Mirimskaya's lawyer, Alexander Chernov, told Kommersant that the allegations against his client are false and that the former police officer's new testimony confirms this.
The 17-month-old girl had been spotted with the surrogate mother in early November 2016 in the occupied territories and had been handed over to Mirimskaya. The Cyprus Police had arrested four people in connection with the case, with two of them sentenced to 9 months in prison.
What did he say to "F" himself?
"F" also contacted the former police officer himself. We put all the above details before him. She told us that she went to Russia in 2019 and testified to the country's investigative authorities under blackmail from a lawyer representing Mirimskaya's ex-boyfriend, Nikolai Smirnov. "A week before I went to Russia, I had left the police," he added. He continued: "Unfortunately they put me in and I signed a paper under threat, which does not correspond to what I wanted to say about the case." We asked him why he did not retract his testimony from 2019 after returning to Cyprus. "I did it now, at the right time, when the Russian authorities started looking into the case again," he replied. We indicated to him that we had seen a photo of him during his testimony in 2019 in Russia and that he was smiling and did not appear to be under threat. He told us that "I didn't know then what would happen later." He added that when he became involved in the case in 2015, he realized there were strange situations and made a detailed report to the police headquarters.
The testimony recanted by the officer
Excerpt from the deposition taken in the summer of 2019
We present an excerpt we obtained from the testimony of the former member of the Cyprus Police which was recanted by him and which was taken in the summer of 2019:
"For the last 40 years I have served in the Police in various positions. Throughout my career I have been promoted to higher positions thanks to my high achievements. {…} In June 2015 my well-known lawyer and close family friend called me ... (name of a lawyer who has an office in the capital) from Nicosia, who asked me for some advice on a personal matter. He told me that they had kidnapped the child of a Russian woman and that he needed my help. {…}
On the same day I met with ... who took me to the hotel "Londa" in Limassol. {…}
Upon our arrival at the hotel "Londa" in Limassol I was introduced by the... (name of the lawyer from Nicosia) to Olga Mirimskaya. She informed me of her problem. The purpose of her visit to Cyprus was to find "her daughter" named ... Olga said that her ex-husband ... in consultation with the surrogate mother ... organized the transfer of the child from Moscow to Cyprus to separate the child from Olga.
Olga claimed that she had all the necessary documents confirming that the child belonged to her and that, as a mother, she had every right to do everything for its return.
He also informed me that the ICF of Limassol is investigating the case. The... (name of the lawyer from Nicosia) assured Olga that I was respected by the entire Cyprus Police and especially by senior police officers because of my many years of successful and honest service and that I could secure in her case, if her allegations were legitimate, the help of the police leadership.
I replied to Olga that I could indeed forward the case to the ICF Headquarters – which is the highest ICF department in Cyprus, since Olga was quite convincing. I told her that I would help her within the limits allowed by law out of respect for ... (name of the lawyer from Nicosia) who asked me to help (...)".
