Lawyer Achilleas Demetriades urges the appointment of a private prosecutor for the 'Mafia State' investigation

Lawyer Achilleas Demetriades has publicly addressed the investigation into allegations made by Makarios Drousiotis in his book 'Mafia State' and the subsequent report by the Anti-Corruption Authority. While praising the Cabinet's decision to appoint a team of five independent criminal investigators, led by Vassilios Skouris, Demetriades emphasized that this is only the first step. He stated that a private prosecutor must be appointed immediately to lead the investigative work and guide the proceedings to court. Demetriades expressed strong concerns regarding Christos Mylonopoulos, a member of the investigative team, citing a potential conflict of interest due to his past role as defense counsel for Michalis Zolotas in the Focus case. He argued that this conflict of interest is pervasive and cannot be limited to specific legal categories. Demetriades highlighted that the current process aims to prepare a criminal case file and restore public confidence in the state administration. Furthermore, he suggested that the results of the investigators' work should not be submitted to the Attorney General's Office, noting that the entire purpose of this initiative was to bypass that office.