Our View: Dangerous to quickly leap to conclusion of a cover-up

While it is a positive development that society takes a critical approach to decisions by the executive, the legal authorities and legislature, and people are much less inclined to take them at face value, there are times this approach goes too far. Journalists, social media commentators and politicians are sometimes too quick to call out the authorities and make allegations of corruption or cover-up, creating the impression that this is always the case. It is not.

There was a good example of this in the last few days, when the attorney-general George Savvides was accused of ‘covering up’ the case of the former president of the Cyprus Football Association, Giorgos Koumas, after the completion of the criminal investigation he himself had ordered. Why had people arrived at this conclusion? Ten days ago, retired judge Alexandra Lycourgou, who had been put in charge of the criminal investigation by Savvides, gave an interview to Politis newspaper criticising the AG for taking too long to charge Koumas.

Headlines about delays in decisions being taken by the attorney-general inevitably appeared, Politis concluding on its front page that “extended delays in decision-making for criminal prosecutions increased the low regard for the institution and establishes the view in society that the powerful are not made accountable.” Lycourgou, despite decades’ experience in law, had behaved like a novice, not only putting the AG under unnecessary pressure, but also implying Koumas was being protected.

She was praised by the media for her unprofessional behaviour. She should have known that a criminal investigator – it is usually a police officer – hands in the findings of their investigation to the attorney-general’s office which will decide what criminal charges would be brought. This is none of the investigator’s business and Lycourgou should have known it – never before has a criminal investigator told the AG what he should do about a case. Lycourgou not only acted unprofessionally, but she was also praised for allegedly exposing a cover-up!

It was nothing of the sort. Four or five days after she made these allegations, the attorney-general’s office submitted its charge sheet against Koumas, the critics claiming Lycourgou had pressured Savvides into action. A more likely explanation is that the AG’s office needed time to go through the thousands of pages of the criminal investigation and prepare criminal charges. This had not been done in the space of four days because Lycourgou applied pressure through Politis. It was the outcome of months of work, as it should be.

And now, if the prosecution against Koumas is unsuccessful, Lycourgou should take some of the responsibility. The defence attorney, understandably, had said he would raise the issue of the criminal investigator going public with her findings, something legally unacceptable. If this leads to a mistrial, it is not the AG who would be to blame but the former judge and her newspaper champions.