Cyprus president faces courts summons in FT case

The Financial Times of London has reported that the President of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos, will face a court hearing in a libel case following accusations made in the FT that his former law firm was linked to illegal transfers of billions of dollars from Belgrade to Cyprus during the UN embargoes against Yuigoslavia in the 1990s.
According to a report appearing on the London Greek News, the FT reported that, “the president, the law firm Tassos Papadopoulos & Co and another partner are suing the FT for libel damages”.

The allegations made in the FT are related to the activity of the Papadopoulos firm registering Yugoslav offshore companies subsequently identified in a UN war crimes report as a front for money laundering operations orchestrated by the regime of Milosevic.

The law firm refutes any unlawful activities and has characterised the FT reports as malicious.
The FT’s lawyer in Cyprus, Pavlos Angelides, has issued a summons for Papadopoulos to appear in court. The law in Cyprus states that if a person refuses to make an appearance in court they are liable to arrest and may be forcibly bought to court.

The case has been adjourned following the witness statements of Pambos Ioannides, a one-time associate of Papadoulous, who stated that the law firm did receive cash flown in from Beogradska, a Serbian bank, to help its operations continue folllowing the international sanctions. The Central Bank of Cyprus have verified that the transfers were legal.

Meanwhile, Cyprus media have reported extensively over the past two weeks over the partners of Tassos Papadopoulos & Co distancing themselves from Ioannides and that they have set up a new firm in which Ioannides has not been included.