Cyprus golden passport trial hears first evidence

The trial in Cyprus's "golden passport" case began hearing evidence on Monday 19 October at the Nicosia Criminal Court, Cyprus Mail and Politis reported. Among the accused is former transport minister Marios Demetriades.

The first prosecution witness, an officer from the police headquarters Criminal Investigation Department, adopted her written statement and submitted documents as exhibits. According to both reports, the exhibits mainly concern the naturalisation of people from Cambodia and China who had obtained Cypriot passports. A defence lawyer told the court he intends to object to certain exhibits expected at later hearings. The next hearing was set for Tuesday 20 October at 09:30.

Politis reported that the case concerns Cyprus's citizenship-by-investment programme and the procedures for approving passports for foreign investors. Ten defendants, eight individuals and two companies, are on trial. The charges reported by both papers include bribery, influence peddling, conspiracy to defraud, VAT offences and money laundering.

The trial is at the evidence stage and no verdict has been reached. All of the accused are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court, and Frederick Capital makes no comment on the merits of the case.