On Sunday, September 22, thousands of residents of the Republic of Cyprus came to the Presidential Palace in Nicosia to protest against the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court to dismiss Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides. The crowd chanted: “No corruption!”, “The Prosecutor General must resign!” and “Shame!”.
The protesters held placards with the words “We defend the state and democracy”, “Fish rots from the head”, “There is no tolerance for corruption and venality”, “Odysseus, you despised their quarrelsome minds too much”, “Justice is a unanimous squint” and “Corrupt ministers, prosecutors and judges — leave now”.
The deputy from the opposition Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL), Yorgos Loukaidis, stated that the dismissal of Odysseas Michailidis was the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused a tsunami of indignation in society. He assured that
AKEL will never allow the introduction of the “law of silence”.
Andrianos Charalambous of the Independent Civil Initiative said that it was not about a struggle between Prosecutor General Yorgos Savvidis and former Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides, but about the “seizure by the government” of the only active independent institution that could control the Cabinet of Ministers.
The leader of the Greens, Yorgos Perdikis, said that after the decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the “forces of corruption” will try to throw a “veil of fear” over society. He proposed to carry out a number of reforms: in particular, to strengthen the independent anti-corruption committee and deprive the Prosecutor General of some of his powers.
The representative of the Civil Alliance, Melanie Steliu, pointed out that instead of checking the Prosecutor General’s Office, which did not respond to major scandals, the person who disclosed them was fired. “How long will we see the state fall into the quagmire of corruption?” asked Ms. Steliu, adding that the time has come for cleansing.
A source: evropakipr.com
https://russiancyprus.news/news/society/evropakipr.com_v-stolice-kipra-proshla-massovaya-akciya-protesta-protiv-uvolneniya-genauditora/
