AKEL on the treatment of former Israeli agents during the Anastasiades–DISY administration and the cover-up of illegal surveillance
Statement by Aristos Damianou, Member of the Political Bureau of AKEL and Member of Parliament
28 March 2026, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
For almost four years now, through dozens of statements, complaints, presentation of evidence, and parliamentary scrutiny we as AKEL have exercised in the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, we have exposed the institutional collusion/entanglement between the Anastasiades government and the ruling DISY party with the illegal activities of companies run by former Israeli intelligence agents in Cyprus.
We have repeatedly called on the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General to take a stand and explain what reasons of public interest that had been invoked led them to suspend criminal proceedings against Mr. Dillian, given that they arranged for his company to plead guilty. This is the same former Israeli agent who, along with others, was convicted by the Greek courts and who is threatening to speak out and proceed to revelations.
The continued silence of the Attorney General Savvides and Deputy Attorney General Angelides leaves them institutionally exposed for the umpteenth time yet again. The Christodoulides government’s refusal to examine the evidence that was submitted to Parliament, but also the findings that are documented in the relevant Report of the Audit Office, amounts to a cover-up of collusion/entanglement and illegal surveillance. Besides, it is well known that the Anti-Corruption Authority, as the newspaper “Politis” correctly reports today, has been examining the whole matter for three years now and—of course—cannot proceed with criminal prosecutions since the final say will once again rest with the Attorney General.
For all those who may not remember, we remind you that there are, among other things, invoices that were issued to the Police Force and paid for the benefit of companies owned by Dillian and Avni, for the purchase and installation of a security system at the Headquarters of the Police Force, for training members of the Headquarters’ Analysis Office, and the installation of a security system in the office of the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department in Limassol. The then Chief of the Police Force also referred to surveillance equipment purchased under the previous leadership. While they were being investigated, they were even doing business on the side. There was also a curious suspension of the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The provocation is enormous, if one considers that the amendment regarding the surveillances that is being sought by the Christodoulides government, through the Central Intelligence Agency (KYP) and the Police, apart from the absence of judicial scrutiny, legalizes the production, use, and export of dual-use software. Surveillance equipment, similar to Predator and Pegasus, which has been proven to have been used in Greece and elsewhere, and for which Cyprus has been called out by the European Parliament itself.
In fact, if answers are once again not provided, the issue of concerning the surveillances will soon be debated in the Plenary of the House of Representatives, and all those involved will be called upon once more to face the truth and citizens.
