Videogate: Attorney General blocks parliament – findings and witnesses excluded from Institutions Committee
Attorney General Giorgos Savvidis refuses to transmit the Paschalidis findings to parliament. MPs insist on seeking explanations at Friday's meeting.
Attorney General: Institutions Committee without findings and without answers on Videogate
A letter from Attorney General Giorgos Savvidis to parliament speaker Annita Dimitriou substantially changes the parameters ahead of the emergency session of the Institutions Committee on "Videogate". The document, disclosed by Politis, clarifies that the findings of criminal investigator Andreas Paschalidis will not be transmitted to parliament, and neither he nor the summoned members of the Police will answer MPs' questions during the session scheduled for the coming Friday.
Savvidis invokes as his central argument the ongoing criminal investigation into the case. In his letter, he calls on the Institutions Committee to give serious consideration to four legal points.
The four legal arguments
Firstly, the criminal investigation is still ongoing: for part of it the investigative work has not been completed, whilst for another part the assessment by the Legal Service of the Republic is pending.
Secondly, any discussion of the investigative work outside the competent court risks influencing the investigative procedure and the fundamental rights of those involved.
Thirdly, the persons summoned to the session who possess knowledge of the relevant facts are unable to answer questions or present documents, as this could affect the administration of justice.
Fourthly, regarding the Paschalidis report, there are additional legal reasons which prohibit the presentation or disclosure of its contents, based on applicable case law and legislation.
"The above constitute my legal positions and I expect that they will be given serious consideration, so that any parliamentary procedures or decisions operate within the framework of the Constitution," the Attorney General states in the conclusion of his letter.
MPs: Paschalidis cannot "hide"
Despite Savvidis's legal positions, members of the Institutions Committee appear determined to seek explanations from the criminal investigator. MPs who spoke to Politis indicated that Paschalidis should not "hide" behind the letter, as there are matters of political and institutional interest requiring clarification.
The first concerns his conclusion regarding hybrid warfare. Paschalidis concluded in his findings that the "Videogate" case may constitute part of a hybrid warfare operation against the Republic of Cyprus by a hostile country, with references pointing to Russia. However, it has not yet been established who was the backer who commissioned Black Cube for this specific operation. Black Cube itself claims that the 26-hour material was aimed at uncovering a possible corruption case and not a hybrid warfare operation. Paschalidis, it should be noted, requested and obtained an extension until the end of the year to investigate the identity of the backer.
The second issue concerns the authenticity of the audiovisual material. The criminal investigator concluded that the eight-minute excerpt released on 8 January 2026 via the "X" platform does not constitute an authentic recording of the events. MPs question how this position is substantiated, given that the entirety of the unedited material — lasting approximately 26 hours — had previously been examined and confirmed as authentic by the Legal Service. This confirmation was, moreover, a prerequisite for the evaluation of the case and the taking of statements from Black Cube officials.
A third question concerns the immunity agreement granted to Black Cube by the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, in cooperation with the criminal investigator, before the effort to identify the backer of the operation was completed.
Resignations and political cost for the government
Regardless of the course of the legal investigation, political cost has already been recorded for the Christodoulides government, as DISY emphasised in a recent announcement.
The party specifically refers to the resignation of the Director of the President's Office, Charalambos Charalambous, the withdrawal of First Lady Philippa Karserae from the presidency of the Fund of the Independent Body for Social Support, as well as the government's proposal for the abolition of the Fund — which was ultimately implemented by a parliament decision.
Source: Politis