Supreme court lifts Sizopoulos’ immunity pending corruption probe

The Supreme Court on Monday lifted the parliamentary immunity of former Edek leader and sitting MP Marinos Sizopoulos, pending investigations against corruption.

Defence lawyer Chris Triantafyllides said his client did not object to the lifting of his immunity.

During the previous hearing, Sizopoulos’ defence had made clear that they would not oppose the procedure, requested by the state legal services.

Deputy attorney-general Savvas Angelides told the court on Monday that all preconditions set out in the law had been met.

Triantafyllides reiterated Sizopoulos had no objection and wished to be treated as any other individual in the Republic.

“Our downright disagreement concerns the facts of the case and any effort to allocate criminal liability,” he said.

Triantafyllides added that the defence regretted that the case had not been moved forward sooner, taking into consideration that Sizopoulos himself had raised the issue with the police back in 2019.

After both sides had made their statements, presiding judge Katerina Stamatiou announced a short recess, after which she issued the decision to lift Sizopoulos’ immunity.