Central Prisons Documents Case: Five defendants seek stay of prosecution
Five of the eight defendants in the Central Prisons documents case have sought a stay of criminal prosecution. A new court date has been set for 9 October.
Adjournment in the Assize Court for the Central Prisons documents case
Five of the eight defendants in the case concerning documents from the Central Prisons have submitted requests for a stay of criminal prosecution to the Law Office, according to reports by Politis. These are defendants 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, in a case involving documents from the correctional institution that were discovered in April 2024 at the residence of a senior prison officer.
During today's hearing before the Assize Court in Nicosia, the representative of the prosecution authority Vasilis Bissas requested a brief adjournment, citing the need to examine the stay requests. Mr Bissas noted that, in the event of a favourable response, valuable court time is expected to be saved.
The defence counsel for defendants 3 to 8 did not object to the request for adjournment. By contrast, the lawyers for defendants 1 and 2 opposed it, citing the employment status of their clients, who are on standby. The Court, having heard the positions of all parties, deemed the adjournment justified and set a new hearing date for 9 October. On that date, the prosecution authority will inform the Court of its response to the stay requests.
According to the indictment, the eight defendants face three charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, three charges of theft by public officials, and three charges of abuse of authority, in breach of the Criminal Code, Chapter 154. Defendant 1 additionally faces one charge for failure to comply with the provisions of the law on Security Rules for Classified Information (Law 84(I)/2021), as well as the relevant Order of 2013.
Source: Politis