In a courtroom appearance at the Nicosia Criminal Court today, two out of three defendants, former President of the House of Representatives Dimitris Syllouris and former AKEL MP Christakis Giovani, denied all five charges related to the high-profile Al Jazeera corruption case.
The case involves allegations stemming from both an investigative report by the Al Jazeera journalistic network and exceptional naturalisation processes for foreign investors and businessmen.
Facing accusations presented by Law Office representative Elli Papayiannou, Syllouris and Giovani firmly rejected any culpability.
Meanwhile, the third defendant, Antonis Antoniou, who was not present due to being abroad, received a new court date of January 18 through his lawyer, Andreas Pittadjis, to address the charges against him.
The citizenship-by-investment scheme – known as the ‘golden passports programme’ – was abolished after an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera revealed rampant corruption and that the government approved issuing passports to international criminals and fugitives, drawing criticism from the European Union and sparking protests in the country.
Under the scheme, foreign nationals were able to acquire a Cypriot passport by investing more than 2 million euros in the country.
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