THE CABINET will today appoint an investigator to head up the enquiry into Mondays devastating explosion at the Evangelos Florakis naval base which left 12 dead and 62 injured.
Attorney-general Petros Clerides said yesterday he had already instructed police to launch a criminal investigation into the incident under his supervision in an effort to bring those responsible to justice. Clerides said the President and his Cabinet of Ministers would today appoint a respected individual to head a second enquiry and that experts would also be involved in the process according to the law.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference, the AG said the difference between the criminal investigation undertaken by police and the investigative committee was that the criminal investigation determined criminal offences and those accountable for them.
The investigative committee will examine this catastrophe in its entirety from when these containers arrived until after the explosion, he said.
The extent of each ones responsibility, the extent of that responsibility and the type of responsibility must be decided by the criminal investigation and the chairman of the investigative committee due to be appointed by the Cabinet, he said. It is these two institutions mission to determine who is responsible and to what degree they are responsible. It is not the medias or politicians [responsibility], he added.
Clerides explained that the criminal aspect of the investigation was too vast for anyone but the police force.
It is my estimation, which I told the President, that this gargantuan task which could lead to possible criminal prosecutions can only be undertaken by the police, he said.
The AG said that the appointment of an independent team of criminal investigators, as had been suggested by some, could not possibly meet the extensive demands warranted by such an investigation.
Two, three or four people cannot conclude such a task. The police will undertake [this investigation] with the capacities they have and with other experts under my supervision, he said.
Pressed to answer how possible a criminal investigation might affect the President of the Republic or his ministers, he said: Ministers do not have immunity but the president does; unless the court decides to lift the presidents immunity or that of the deputies, who also have immunity.
On Tuesday night thousands of protestors gathered outside the presidential palace to express their rage regarding the governments handling of the munitions cargo stored at the Evangelos Florakis naval base, demanding the resignation of president, his ministers, as well as the AG.
Regarding how long the investigation would take, Clerides said setting a timeframe to conclude such a task was impossible. He explained that a case which could very well end up in court was not easy and that in order to be successful there had to be no holes in the investigation.
Whats being said about a cover up and taking too long [to conclude the investigation] is not the reality Weve been through other trials Needless time will not go by, he said.
Clerides also assured that any evidence supporting the case had not been tampered with or destroyed. He told reporters that anyone with any information regarding such a fact should put it in writing and it would be investigated immediately. Possible culprits would face the full brunt of the law without leniency, he added. The AG was referring to various news reports and accusations by a handful of deputies that unnamed National Guard officers had try to steal documents linked to the debacle.
Specifically House Defence Committee Chairman George Varnava said he had received information that files and documents were being removed from both the Defence Ministry and National Guard headquarters. The EDEK deputy said on Monday he would ask for all documentation surrounding events which led to the explosion to be put before the committee.
If any have been destroyed or have disappeared I am warning that if this has happened it is a criminal offence, said Varnava.
Other accusations hurled out by opposition deputies included officers trying to steal correspondence between naval officers and the Defence Ministry in the dead of the night, as well as going round to Naval Commander Andreas Ioannides home and asking his wife to hand over all documentation she had in her possession. Ioannides was killed in Mondays blast and buried yesterday.
Clerides said no evidence from the Legal Services had been tampered with and that it had been handed over to the criminal investigators. The Defence Ministry also yesterday issued a statement that all incoming and outgoing documents were kept in the Ministrys archives and under no circumstances had been tampered with or destroyed. The Ministry said all documentation pertaining to the storage of the munitions cargo which exploded on Monday had been impounded at the central archives and that as of yesterday morning had started being handed over to criminal investigators.
By Alexia Saoulli Published on July 14, 2011
cyprus-mail.com
