Central prisons director Anna Aristotelous on Monday filed an official complaint to the attorney-general’s office relating to the allegations she made last week about a senior officer colluding with an inmate to obtain damaging video footage of her.
The attorney-general’s office confirmed this in a Tweet, saying the case is already under investigation.
“After the end of the investigation, the legal service will deliberate and announce its decisions immediately,” it said.
Aristotelous, who first went public with the allegations on Friday, also said she was in possession of a volume of messages exchanged between the inmate and the senior officer on Telegram, which were given to her group of lawyers.
The evidence was submitted alongside her complaint.
She also called for the appointment of independent criminal investigators, in the hopes they will not be former police officers as that would call the credibility of the investigation into question.
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The investigation will be guided and informed by the attorney-general’s office and investigators will be armed with police powers in order to be able to take statements, call people for questioning, and if deemed necessary, obtain search or arrest warrants.
On Friday, the prisons director met with Justice Minister Stephie Dracos for more than an hour, briefing her on the evidence she holds.
She also called for the suspension of the officer because “many issues are raised, including security issues,” reportedly threatening to step down from her own duties otherwise.
A source told Phileleftheros that the convict implicated in the case had been telling fellow inmates the senior officer had promised to take his case up for review which would see his sentence reduced.
The reviewing committee reportedly told the daily they had not considered the inmate’s request because other cases were pending against him.
In a letter given to the media, prison inmates said they feel “helpless against the urges of every corrupt officer using their access to the system in order to corrupt it”.
Inmates, their families and prison wardens staged a protest on Monday morning, expressing their solidarity with Aristotelous, who was also present.
“We are in prison as a consequence of our bad choices and see our sentences as an opportunity for reform and preparation to re-enter society,” the letter reads.
“But we now have serious concerns about police officers who, unscrupulously, offer inmates money and other bribes to generate information for their personal agendas, sometimes against people who are in trial and sometimes to make sure people are convicted”.
The letter goes on to accuse the senior officer of using these practices to manipulate other inmates, saying the latest incident confirmed he had been involved in several other similar cases within the prison.
They also alluded to the existence of evidence to back up these claims.
Phileleftheros reported on Sunday, citing ‘sources’, that both the president and the attorney-general Giorgos Savvides were informed about the alleged incident over a month ago.
Asked by reporters on Sunday, Anastasiades vehemently denied this, saying he will not respond to fake news adding however that there can be no tolerance, if and when what has come to light is documented”.
Contacting Savvides, the paper said he neither confirmed nor denied knowing about it.
“I cannot say anything before I see the content and details of the complaint,” he was quoted as saying.
Asked again, he said: “I do not want to say anything about any complaint that is not accompanied by evidence.”
Savvides has made no official comments, with the legal service telling the paper there would be no comments on reports that have nothing to do with reality.
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