The police completely disagree that President Nikos Christodoulides abused his power by having security officers transport his children, police spokesperson Christos Andreou said on Friday.
On Thursday, a report emerged from the audit office on police activity, in which they noted that it was illegal for service vehicles to transport solely the children of the president.
“We completely disagree,” Andreou said on Friday. “The police are completely different than the rest of the civil service. There is a police order that says anyone who might be in danger, can be transported by service vehicles.”
Speaking to Politis radio, Andreou added that they [THE POLICE] believe it is correct [TO TRANSPORT THE PRESIDENT’S CHILDREN] and that they will continue “to provide security in this manner”.
Asked to comment on the police driving behind a private vehicle that might transport the children of the president, Andreou said that this cannot happen as officers are trained to react to issues on the road, making it necessary for them to be behind the wheel.
On Thursday, the audit office issued a special report on police activity in 2023, where they cited that it is illegal for separate service vehicles to be used to transport the children of the president.
“For our office, it is clear that whatever security reasons are put forward cannot result in individuals being transported at the expense of the state. We have indicated that, in our opinion, the transportation of the children of the President of the Republic in an official car is illegal and constitutes an abuse of power,” the audit office said in the report.
Commenting on the report to Ant1 television, the spokesman of the audit service, Marios Petrides, said that Christodoulides can transport his children by himself, using either his own vehicle or his service vehicle.
He added that a security officer could accompany them, but the President or First Lady would have to be present in the vehicle as well.
According to the audit office, the problem was that the service vehicles could not be used to drive the children alone with security officers.
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