The fifth member of the criminal investigators is appointed today by the Council of Ministers to get to work, 23 days after the conclusion of the Anti-Corruption Authority. Yesterday, the complaints about the obstruction of the new criminal investigator, Ilias Anagnostopoulos, because he is the lawyer of the Israeli Tal Dilian in Greece, were rejected by the most official lips.
The President of the Republic responded to the criticisms in an emphatic way, stating that before this person was appointed, the Anti-Corruption Authority had been contacted about whether the black van was also among the issues under consideration, with a negative answer.
"We are interested in the substance and the essence is to investigate what the Anti-Corruption Authority has made public in the seven categories, President Christodoulides said yesterday. He added "and I want to say something to all those who are constantly worried, react because this is mainly done out of opposition rage and nothing else. Before appointing this gentleman, we contacted the Anti-Corruption Authority and made sure that there was no problem.
So, let's let this Investigative Committee do its job and let some people not find ways all the time, out of opposition rage. This is solely what leads them to such statements. Let the committee work, let the result come out and we will be here to comment on it. I repeat, before this appointment we spoke with the Anti-Corruption Authority and there is absolutely no problem," he said.
What remains now are two formal procedures: The ratification of the appointment of Mr. Anagnostopoulos today by the Council of Ministers and the publication of the appointment of the five in the official gazette of the Republic.
The Secretariat of the Council of Ministers has already taken action and found the place where the team of criminal investigators will meet, the auxiliary staff that will be given so that they can get to work immediately. However, it will take time to study the findings and testimonies before the plan for summoning witnesses is prepared.
At the same time, the Police are on standby so that if called, they can assist in the investigations. As the spokesman of the Police, Byron Byron, stated yesterday, if the criminal investigators ask the Police for assistance then they will be provided. As he mentioned, the taking of testimonies is done by people who have knowledge of domestic procedures, in order for the testimonies to be accepted by the Court.
"In such cases, the assistance of the Police is always requested. If we are asked, we will provide it as much as we can," he said. It is expected that all the witness material collected by the investigation inspectors of the Anti-Corruption Authority will be given to the criminal investigators in electronic form by the Council of Ministers, while the material in printed form is kept in the offices of the Authority and will only be accessible to investigators if they wish.
As "F" wrote yesterday, in the event that criminal investigators need legal guidance, this will be given by a team of lawyers from the Legal Service and in any case not by the heads, who have been excluded from the process. The decision whether in possible criminal prosecutions, the case will be presented by a private public prosecutor instead of a member of the Legal Service, will be taken after the completion of the investigation.
