AKEL accuses state of cover-up in Cyprus ‘spy van’ case
In Cyprus, the AKEL party accused state authorities of a “scandal of multiple cover-ups” after the anti-corruption body closed its investigation into the so-called spy van case without publishing its findings. As Cyprus Mail reports, the case concerns Tal Dilian, the former head of a secret technological unit of the Israeli military and former CEO of WiSpear.
AKEL said that materials submitted to parliament and the courts allegedly indicate the operation of a system capable of mass surveillance and illegal wiretapping. The party also claims that officials knew about alleged unlawful surveillance linked to certain companies.
Positions of the anti-corruption body and the legal service
The anti-corruption body said that, after correspondence and a lengthy meeting at the legal service, it was unable to continue the investigation. According to its version, the legal service stated that all issues the body had planned to examine had already been reviewed by competent authorities.
Transparency Commissioner Harris Poyiadjis approved the partial disclosure of information in view of the public interest. At the same time, further details cannot be made public because the materials are confidential.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The legal service denied obstructing the investigation. It said that on July 16, the anti-corruption body sent a classified letter stating its intention to examine certain aspects of the case that did not concern the work of the legal service itself. According to its position, the body made the decision to close the investigation independently.
Course of the case
The investigation began after a complaint filed in 2023 by then auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides. Following new developments and the publication in June of a book by a Cypriot journalist, the anti-corruption body decided to expand the investigation to all related episodes and informed Attorney-General Georgios Savvides.
Lawyer Simos Angelides said that the law prohibits only parallel criminal investigations, but does not prevent the anti-corruption body from acting after another procedure has been completed. Criminal proceedings against Dilian had previously been initiated in Cyprus, which Savvides discontinued in 2021. WiSpear was fined €76,000.
AKEL also noted that the findings of independent criminal investigator Elias Stefanou have still not been published, despite recommendations by the European Parliament to do so.
