Sizopoulos will not oppose lifting of parliamentary immunity

Former Edek leader and sitting MP Marinos Sizopoulos will not oppose the lifting of his parliamentary immunity, with the supreme court setting March 16 to hear the attorney-general’s request for a criminal investigation to proceed.

The decision was confirmed on Tuesday after the supreme court heard preliminary positions from both sides.

Sizopoulos’ legal team told the court that he intends to facilitate the administration of justice and has nothing to conceal, while firmly rejecting all allegations under examination.

Speaking after the proceedings, his lawyer Christos Triantafyllidis said his client “categorically denies the alleged offences” and has chosen not to contest the request to allow the case to be examined “without procedural obstacles”.

He stressed that the matter dates back to 2019, when Sizopoulos himself had gone to the police as a complainant over the same transactions now being attributed to him.

The legal service was represented by deputy attorney-general Savvas Angelides and public prosecutor Polina Evthyvoulou.

Angelides told the court that the process fully respects the presumption of innocence and requested time to submit the prosecution’s written positions.

The six-judge panel granted both sides until March 9 to file submissions, setting March 16 for the hearing.

The case centres on findings published last September by the independent authority against corruption, which concluded that Sizopoulos and at least three other shareholders in the company Taxan may have committed offences including fraud, forgery, circulation of a false document and conspiracy to defraud.

According to the authority, Taxan’s shareholders sold the company’s shares to an Iraqi investor for €2 million to settle outstanding bank liabilities.

The shareholders, including Sizopoulos, allegedly declared the sale price as €1.6 million to the bank.

The authority said the bank would not have agreed to write off €956,900 of debt had it known the true sale value, describing the use of a lower-value contract as an attempt to mislead the institution and secure a financial benefit.

The authority also said it had indications that Sizopoulos was aware of the actual sale price and played an active role in negotiations with the bank.

Separate documents revealed that the tax department assessed tax based on the €2 million figure, while residual tax liabilities exceeding €10,000 reportedly remain outstanding.

Police first investigated the case in 2019 and forwarded a file to the attorney-general’s office, including a possible request to lift Sizopoulos’ immunity.

In July 2020, the attorney-general decided not to prosecute, a decision that later attracted criticism amid broader scrutiny of corruption cases linked to the now-defunct citizenship-by-investment scheme.

Sizopoulos has repeatedly stated that he is placing himself “at the disposal of the judiciary” and has expressed hope that this time the police and legal service will conduct what he described as an objective investigation.