An administrative investigation report into any possible disciplinary offences by the island’s controversial ex drug squad chief Michalis Katsounotos is now in the hands of the Police Chief, Philenews reported on Friday.
The report was ordered following the scandal which broke out last June concerning corruption allegations made against Katsounotos by the island’s Central Prisons director Anna Aristotelous and her assistant Athena Demetriou.
The two women accused Katsounotos of colluding with an inmate serving a life sentence for drug trafficking to secure damaging material of Aristotelous to oust her from the position.
The appointed by the Legal Service independent investigator, Achilleas Emilianides, who had completed and submitted his report in September concluded that the specific officer is criminally liable.
Nonetheless, the Attorney General had announced that – “for reasons of public interest” – it was decided that Katsounotos would not be criminally prosecuted.
Instead, he was transferred to another department and the criminal investigator’s report sent to the Police Chief to consider whether disciplinary offenses do arise.
At the same time, newly-appointed Minister of Justice Anna Prokopiou-Koukkides has said that if disciplinary offenses do arise then an investigating officer will be appointed to re-start examinations into the case.
