Before the Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court, final arguments began on Monday in the criminal case linked to Al Jazeera’s investigation and the exceptional naturalisations of foreign investors, based on the findings of the Nicolatos Committee. The prosecution and the defence for Dimitris Syllouris completed their submissions, while the defence of Christakis Tziovanis, represented by Giorgos Papaioannou, did not finish today and will continue tomorrow before the court.

The prosecution, represented by Haris Karaolidou, attributed to the defendants serious corruption offences under both the Criminal Code and the Council of Europe Convention on the criminalisation of corruption. It argued that, in the cases of two investors, Nikolai Gornovski and Zainab Ali Hilmi Armous, there was coordinated action aimed at influencing the naturalisation process.

Particular reference was made to the Gornovski case, where, according to the prosecution, the offence of conspiracy to defraud the Republic is also substantiated.

Karaolidou noted that corruption offences “strike at the core of the integrity, impartiality and credibility of public authority” and, by their nature, are usually committed covertly, without direct testimony.

She added that proving such offences relies on the cumulative assessment of events which, through the lens of common sense and human experience, form “a coherent and unbroken evidential chain”.

In its argument, the prosecution stated that the then Speaker of the House, Dimitris Syllouris, and the then MP and businessman, Christakis Tziovanis, “exploited their positions for the purpose of securing an improper advantage” so that the two investors could obtain Cypriot passports through the Cyprus Investment Programme.

The prosecution argued that Tziovanis, acting as a property seller, “defrauded the Republic of Cyprus” by pursuing the naturalisation of an investor who did not meet the criteria, in exchange for securing property sales worth more than €2 million. To achieve this goal, he allegedly “recruited” Syllouris.

In the second case, that of Armous, the prosecution said the same mechanism was activated—through an intermediary—to secure a passport for the investor’s daughter, who had exceeded the age limit.

Karaolidou listed several facts which, in her view, remained undisputed: the long-standing friendship between the two defendants; Syllouris’s financial relationship with the Tziovanis Group, from which he received amounts exceeding €200,000; the employment of Syllouris’s daughter within the same Group with a salary of €70,000; the signing of a Reservation Agreement in December 2018; the transfer of €2,300,470 into a client account before Gornovski’s naturalisation; and its gradual disbursement to companies linked to Tziovanis after the naturalisation was approved on 5 June 2019.

Particular emphasis was placed on what were described as Syllouris’s telephone interventions with the then Director General of the Interior Ministry and ministry officials, as well as the sending of a fax from the Speaker’s office requesting a reconsideration of the case.

According to the prosecution, the presence of the then Speaker at events with investors “cannot be considered socially neutral” and serves as indirect confirmation of access to the highest political level.

Concluding, Karaolidou called on the court to reach a single outcome: “the conviction of the defendants”.

Counsel for Dimitris Syllouris, Chris Triantafyllides, described the prosecution’s address as “highly capable but theoretical”, arguing it resembled “a novel-style narrative” without substantive connection to the evidence.

He claimed that many of the so-called “undisputed facts” were unsupported and referred to an abuse of process.

Triantafyllides added that if the presence of officials at social events is treated as proof of corruption, “we enter a dangerous era for human relationships”.

He said his client never sought approval of applications, only updates on their progress, arguing that the prosecution is attempting to shift the burden of proof from “beyond reasonable doubt” to “on the balance of probabilities”.

“If, on the balance of probabilities—because someone happened to be in a house where he was invited and others were found there—we can convict on that burden rather than beyond reasonable doubt, then we have lost our way. Nowhere do the law or conventions state that criminal cases depart from the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt. What the prosecution argues introduces very dangerous pathways for justice,” he said.

Syllouris’s lawyer added that his client declares himself “with all the strength of his soul, innocent of the charges he faces”, urging the court to adopt this position and acquit him.

Counsel for Christakis Tziovanis, Giorgos Papaioannou, stated that “there is not a shred of evidence” supporting the prospect of conviction.

He rejected claims that Tziovanis “recruited” Syllouris, noting that there is no evidence of coordination between them regarding the disputed cases.

He argued that key figures are absent from the proceedings, including investor Gornovski, provider Andreas Pittatzis and the Finance Ministry.

Papaioannou added that this is a case “where the driver has disappeared and the backseat passenger is brought before the court”, insisting that Pittatzis played the leading role in preparing and managing contracts and payments.

Tziovanis’s defence will conclude its submissions tomorrow at 09:30, with the court reserving its decision.