Drousiotis ‘has not provided any documented evidence’ to support claims, Fitiris says

Journalist Makarios Drousiotis “has not provided any documented evidence” to substantiate the claims he has made regarding a former supreme court judge whom he accuses of rape, among other things, Justice Minister Costas Fitiris said on Saturday.

“In relation to the public statements made by Makarios Drousiotis, who stated that he handed over evidence to the police’s investigation team, it is clarified again that, based on confirmation from the police chief, to date, he has not provided any documented evidence to support the serious allegations he has made,” he said.

He added that when Drousiotis left the police headquarters on Friday, instead of a statement, he had “left a written, typed descriptive text”, which was “unsigned”.

This, he said, “cannot constitute evidence”.

After leaving the police headquarters on Friday, Drousiotis had said only that “the dye has been cast”, having earlier shared on social media apparent records of electronic communications and transfers of money between Christodoulou, high-profile figures, and his alleged victim in recent days.

He continues to maintain that he possesses substantial evidence to support his claims, though the former supreme court judge whom he accuses, Michalakis Christodoulou, denies any wrongdoing.

He said that he had “acted like a father” to the woman, and that he is willing to cooperate with the authorities.

Other figures named by Drousiotis, including former MEP Demetris Papadakis and Edek deputy leader Morfakis Solomonides, both of whom he alleges to have “acted on the behest of Christodoulou as informants and interlocutors”, have denied the allegations.

Papadakis submitted his mobile phone to forensic experts and said that any findings must be handed directly to police chief Themistos Arnaoutis.

He also gave a statement to the police on Friday, accusing Drousiotis of publishing false news and circulating false documents.