Statements by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A.Kyprianou on the “spy van” issue
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 19th November 2019, Nicosia
The government, pursuing its beloved tactic of deviating from the substance of issues, but also attempting to blame everything on the previous government – forgetting that it has been in power for seven years now – said the following about the notorious spy van. Namely that the company was registered in 2011 and that it is AKEL’s responsibility that some legislation which is pending in the House of Representatives hasn’t been promoted and approved so far.
They have gone beyond every limit. That’s why I’ll say the following. First and foremost with regards the issue of the company’s establishment. We demand that a thorough investigation be conducted into its activities from the first day it was founded, until the day that Demetris Christofias held the Presidency of the Republic, and that the findings of this investigation should be made public. We want complete transparency.
Accordingly, of course, and with complete transparency too, all information regarding the subsequent activities of the company concerned, the evolution of the company and so on must be made public. And of course, in particular all the necessary information must be made known and be given. When did the notorious spy van come to Cyprus? By what procedures? With what licenses? By whom and how has it operated so far? We demand complete transparency on all these issues.
Concerning the legislation before the House of Representatives. I regret to say, but the government is once again trying to mislead the people. The relevant legislation will give the possibility, if and provided that it is adopted by the House of Representatives, to the Central Intelligence Service (CIS, KYP) and to no one else other than KYP, under certain circumstances and situations, to operate in a way that will enable it to solve certain things. Let’s not go into details. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the illegal activity of this company. Nor is there any need for any additional legislation to determine that the activity of this particular company and especially the spy van is illegal. And from the moment it has been stated that these activities are illegal, we reiterate that we are waiting for arrests to be made. Why aren’t arrests being made?
However, as the government responds to anything other than what it knows or ought to know, we will pose some very simple questions.
1st: Today it was reported in the press that this Israeli in question had applied for a gun license, that this was rejected by the relevant police committee on two occasions, and by exception, the Minister of Justice and Public Order Mr. Ionas Nikolaou requested from the Council of Ministers that it should give him this licence. For that reason the babbling Government spokesman should tell us whether this is in fact true and according to what preconditions and why did Ionas Nikolaou request that a license to carry a gun should by exception be granted to him?
2nd: It has once again been reported in the press that the person in question and other persons from that particular company maintain relations with political parties. We want to know what kind of relationships and with what political parties.
These questions need to be answered. The whole issue has assumed enormous dimensions. What is happening in our country is unacceptable, namely that any private company has the right to follow citizens. It is dangerous to citizen’s security. We demand that the government be held accountable with complete transparency, starting from 2011 right up to today.
