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Former House Speaker Dimitris Syllouris and ex-MP and businessman Christakis Tziovanis were acquitted Tuesday in the long-running “golden passports” trial, a case that has captivated Cyprus for years.
The court said there was no evidence that Syllouris or Tziovanis acted with corrupt intent.
The verdict, delivered in a 180-page decision by the Criminal Court of Nicosia shortly after 10 a.m., cleared both men of all charges, including conspiracy to defraud the Republic and improperly influencing public officials. A packed courtroom watched as the ruling was read over an hour and a half.
The court said there was no evidence that Syllouris or Tziovanis acted with corrupt intent. On the charge of influencing naturalization applications for foreign investors, judges found that the prosecution could not prove undue interference. As a result, all counts against the two former officials were dismissed.
The decision marks a major development in one of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent Cypriot history, which stemmed from Al Jazeera reports exposing alleged irregularities in the now-defunct citizenship-by-investment program.
Recap: Dimitris Syllouris and Christakis Tziovanis were acquitted of all corruption and influence charges in the “golden passports” case. The court found no proof of corrupt intent or improper influence in the handling of foreign citizenship applications.
