The case is being led to the South Cyprus Supreme Court by the prohibition order issued by the Nicosia District Court against Al Jazeera at the request of Dimitris Syllouris, with a representative of the Arab network speaking about a strange court decision.
In particular, the head of Al Jazeera’s investigative journalism team, Mr Phil Rees, describes the prohibition decree unilaterally issued by the Nicosia District Court on 20/5/21, prohibiting the Arab network from displaying material it created in the context of its revealing documentary “Cyprus Papers Undercover” concerning Dimitris Syllouris, an attempt to restrict freedom of speech to an indisputable matter of public interest in Cyprus and a strange court decision, because as he said “such a decree is usually issued as an extraordinary measure to avoid the disclosure of information until the judge can obtain an informed decision. In this case, Mr. Syllouris waited seven months before asking for the decision. The documentary has been viewed nearly a million times. Our research has been the subject of intense public debate in Cyprus and across the EU.”
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In fact, he described as astonishing the fact that he received information about this judgment from the organisers of the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA). “They had them,” he said, “sent court documents after submitting the documentary nomination for this year’s ‘Current Affairs’ award. We could consider why Mr Syllouris’ lawyers sent the documents to BAFTA, who are not parties to the decision. Their strategy became even more bizarre when Al Jazeera took the court order only a month after BAFTA.”
Asked whether Al Jazeera would respect the Cypriot court’s decision, Mr. Rees replied that “while we consider it a clear attack on press freedom, we will respect the court’s decision.” He also revealed that Al Jazeera appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
Secret journalism
When asked whether Dimitris Syllouris’ personal data has been compromised and whether the documentary constitutes defamation, Mr. Rees said that ‘shortly after the release of the documentary the Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld asked the European Parliament: ‘Why did we have to wait for the brave journalists to reveal the scandals that we all suspected for a long time?’.
“Investigative journalism,” he continued, “is not only based on the statements and assurances of those in power, but its role is to hold them to account for their actions. In certain cases a method of gathering evidence used by al Jazeera’s investigative team is secret recording. Al Jazeera has signed the CODE of Conduct of the UK Communications Office (Ofcom), which we believe provides an international high standard in journalistic ethics and is the guardian of public service journalism. Under Ofcom’s code, journalists may implement measures involving deception, such as secret recording, if we find prima facie wrongdoing and believe that our action protects the public interest. Everything we did in Mr. Syllouris’ recording was compatible with the Ofcom code.”
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“There is,” he said, “a long and historical tradition of apocalyptic secret journalism that has changed societies for the better. Recent examples include the BBC’s Panorama, which used hidden cameras to uncover abuse on an elderly care home, for which it won the BAFTA award. In 2018 undercover journalists revealed the operation of Cambridge Analytica. They showed how the data could be used to undermine democracy and revealed assumptions that they used prostitutes, extortion and bribery to discredit politicians. These undercover reporters influenced change for the better.”
“The ‘Cyprus Papers Undercover’,” he concluded, “led to the abolition of the Cyprus Investment Programme and the official investigation found that the government had broken the law on countless occasions for granting citizenship to thousands of people. The documentary also led to the resignation of Mr. Syllouris as Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
Prohibition order
The prohibition order against Al Jazeera was published (photo). As stated in the prohibition decree, the Nicosia District Court submitted a unilateral application on 18/05/21 by Mr. Christo M. Triantafyllidis, lawyer of Dimitris Syllouris.
“THE COURT OF TO”, according to the decree, “after reading the sworn statement filed by the plaintiff who signed a guarantee of €200,000 to fully cover any damages and expenses that the defendants wished to suffer from the adoption of this decree without reasonable cause and after studying all the evidence before him”.
‘DIA OF THIS’, he adds, ‘PROVIDES AND REQUIRES to the Defendants and/or any of them and/or any who acts with the permission and/or inducement and/or knowledge of the Defendants; without the express knowledge and/or consent of the Applicant or related order and/or judgment of the Court of Justice shall use and/or make available for use and/or expose and/or display and/or exploit the result of the video recording and/or recording of the Applicant which took place in the Republic of Cyprus without his knowledge and/or consent on or around 26/10/19’.
“So the application,” he continues, ‘as long as the decree issued is set for service at 18.6.21 at 9:30 a.m., the date until which the unilateral decree remains in force, in view of the fact that all of whom are outside the jurisdiction of the Cyprus Court of Justice, namely in the United Kingdom, will be served on the Defendants and other procedures should be made for issuing orders for their performance to the Defendants abroad’.
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In fact, the Cypriot court warns Al Jazeera against imprisonment or seizure of property. In particular, it states that “If you the above-mentioned defendants and/or any of you and/or anyone acting with your permission and/or inducement and/or knowledge fail to comply with this Decree immediately after its service to you, you shall be subject to arrest and your property to seizure”.
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