Cyprus court acquits former parliament president and MP in golden passport case
Cyprus court clears ex-Parliament president, MP in a case linked to golden passports, citing missing witnesses and lack of evidence.
A criminal court in Nicosia on Tuesday acquitted two former senior Cypriot politicians accused of having improperly intervened in citizenship applications under the country’s now-defunct “golden passport” program, ruling that prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence.
The defendants, Demetris Syllouris, a former parliament president, and Christakis Giovanis, a former lawmaker, had denied wrongdoing. In a 170-page judgment, the court said key witnesses did not appear and had not been summoned, a lapse judges described as decisive in dismissing the case.
Speaking after the verdict, Syllouris said he had been vindicated. “I was clean and remained clean,” he said, rejecting allegations of corruption and criticizing what he called attempts to politicize the proceedings.
The case stemmed from a scandal that erupted after an undercover investigation by Al Jazeera in 2020 exposed apparent willingness by officials to help a fictitious Chinese businessman with a criminal record obtain Cyprus citizenship. The report, titled The Cyprus Papers Undercover, prompted both men to resign almost immediately and intensified scrutiny of the investment-for-citizenship scheme.
An independent investigation chaired by former Supreme Court judge Myron Nicolatos examined the legality of massive naturalisations granted under the Citizenship by Investment Program, and concluded in its 2021 report that the scheme had been applied unlawfully in a significant number of cases.
The government abolished the program later that year after mounting criticism over abuses.
Criminal proceedings formally began in 2022 and were marked by suspensions, re-filings and the dismissal of co-defendants, gradually narrowing to the two politicians. The trial concluded in December 2025, with the verdict delivered Tuesday.
It was the third first-instance criminal case linked to the program. Defendants in two earlier cases were also acquitted, though those rulings are under appeal, and a fourth case involving a former minister is still pending.
In its 2025 rule-of-law assessment, the European Commission said further steps were needed to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, warning that tackling graft remained essential to maintaining public trust in state institutions.
Kirill Romanovskiy