On the occasion of the scandal that broke out in the European Parliament and the investigations conducted by the Belgian authorities, Presidential candidate Achilleas Dimitriades[/B] asked in a statement whether we as Cyprus have learned anything from it.
"The effective functioning of the justice system against corruption is the major stake throughout the European Union and its member states to ensure the rule of law. The authorities in Belgium show that this is how an investigation is conducted,[/B] with the sole aim of results and not a cover-up," he says.
Cyprus, he adds, lags seriously in investigating the high-profile case surrounding the thousands of gold passports and developments in Belgium give us a benchmark.
"More than two years after the revelations, a year after the Nicolatos Commission's finding and a few months after the Auditor General's report on the investment versus naturalisation programme, the inefficiency of the justice system in Cyprus is unprecedented. Nobody knows what stage the cases are at, which direction they are going in and what happens to half of the files that have already been declared illegal."
He concludes by saying that Belgium shows a way forward for all those who really want to change the pathologies that have left us stagnant for so many years.
The statement itself:
"I am following developments in Belgium around the investigations into the Qatari corruption and bribery scandal involving Greek MEP Eva Kaili and others. I underline the way the authorities in Belgium are acting and their effectiveness in investigating an unprecedented scandal involving political figures as well as an elected Member of the European Parliament.
The effective functioning of the justice system against corruption is the major stake throughout the European Union and its Member States to ensure the rule of law. The authorities in Belgium show that this is how an investigation is conducted with the sole aim of results and not a cover-up.
Cyprus is seriously lagging behind in investigating the complex case of the thousands of gold passports and the developments in Belgium give us a benchmark.
More than two years after the revelations, a year after the findings of the Nicolatos Commission and a few months after the Auditor General's report on the investment versus naturalisation programme, the inefficiency of the justice system in Cyprus is unprecedented. No one knows what stage the cases are at, which direction they are heading and what is being done with half of the files that have already been declared illegal.
The Anastasiades government is completing its ten-year cycle leaving Cyprus at the bottom of corruption, with serious shortcomings in the efficiency of the judiciary and with reasonable grounds to believe that its protagonists are acting with a view to covering up rather than exposing corruption. This situation will only change if we give particular weight to independent investigation, with institutions doing their job, without dependence on the executive.
Belgium shows a way forward for all those who really want to change the pathologies that have left us stagnant for so many years."
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