By George Koumoulli
All constitutionalists regard the role of the Attorney General as unique, because this role is the cornerstone of the rule of law. well, from this explanation that:
• the rule of law depends on the equal administration of justice
• legal decisions must be impartial and insulated by political or party influence
• prosecutorial powers must be exercised without a trace of party influence.
It is regrettable that the above characteristics of the rule of law do not apply to poor Cyprus. Sadder that our state is considered by the whole world to be guilty of countless illegalities. It is very sad that the Attorney General, G. Savvidis, and the Assistant Prosecutor, S. Angelidis, are considered by the general public to be government puppets.
The recent publication of the Report of the Audit Office on naturalizations confirms that during the period of their ministry, Savvidis and Angelidis approved about 1,600 applications for “golden” passports. In addition, the law office of assistant prosecutor Savvas Angelidis undertook cases of issuing passports and Angelidis in his capacity as a member of the Ministerial Council approved -of course!- the applications, coming from his office. In short, the current prosecutors were former ministers and associates of Anastasiades and, therefore, accomplices in the illegal issuance of the “golden” passports.
But why does the smooth functioning of democracy require the resignation of prosecutors? Reading the report of the Auditor General of the Republic on naturalizations, we come to the effortless conclusion that there are, at first sight, not only political, but also criminal responsibilities for all the ministers who participated in the issuance of the “golden” passports and this group includes both the attorney general and the assistant prosecutor. The last two, however, are those responsible for investigating criminal liability. That is why the CT has fallen into a stalemate. Who will be conducting this research? If they do it themselves, it will be a violation of natural justice.
Sir Edward Coke, one of England’s most famous lawyers, proclaimed “Nemo Judex in causa sua”, that is, no one should act as a judge in a case in which he has a personal interest, and this principle constitutes the alpha and omega of natural justice. If indeed these two gentlemen are true patriots, they must resign immediately to make it possible to investigate criminal responsibilities. Otherwise, the auditor general’s report will be referred to the Greek calends, as was the case with those of the Kalogirou and Nicolatos committees.
Savvidis and Angelidis must put the national interest above any other interest and resign. In such a case, the way will be opened for the appointment of two new prosecutors, completely free of party affiliations, as we all hope, to clean up the stable of Avgeias – indeed an extremely difficult task, because the manure that has been gathered in the huge government stables is enough to cover even Troodos. Only with your resignation, Mr Savvidis and Mr Angelidis, will there be any hope of consolidating public life. On the contrary, Cyprus will remain a corrupt, discredited state and subordinate to the interests of the economic oligarchy.
Experience with our two prosecutors puts the issue of appointing prosecutors on the table in the future. It goes without saying (but not to the russetological Presidents) that the appointment of a person who has party affiliations or is a party official should be excluded. In my humble opinion, we must imitate the countries where prosecutors come from the Judiciary, in order to deliver clear and impartial justice. In the case of Cyprus, I cannot imagine our prosecutors prosecuting Anastasiades criminally. For example, there is irrefutable evidence that Anastasiades is guilty of bribery. He confessed that his “friend”, Sheikh Salen bin Mahfouz, gave him his private plane for free in August 2018, for the family trip he made to seychelles.
In return, the Saudi took 42 (!) EU passports for himself, for other relatives, associates and his two wives. According to EY, the sheikh should not have taken a passport, nor should all 19 members of his family. Needless to say, in other countries, with the revelation of such a scandal, the PD would immediately resign. However, I concentrate on criminal responsibilities and I see that Anastasiades violated Article 45, paragraph 3 of the Constitution, which says: “The President or vice-president of the Republic may be prosecuted for any offence of dishonour or moral obscenity, with the permission of the President of the Supreme Court. The charge shall be brought before the Supreme Court by the Advocate-General and the Assistant Attorney General of the Republic.’
In summary, it is up to our prosecutors to denounce Anastasiades, since the gift he received is an unpunished and immoral offense, as the Constitution says. Here’s an opportunity for prosecutors to prove that they are impartial by applying constitutional law. Behold Rhodes, behold the leap, or to be more understandable, “behold the gift, behold the swelling.”
