Until the completion of the investigations on previous threats received by the former President of the Republic Dimitris Christofias, the Council of Ministers, following a recommendation of the Police Security Committee, decided to extend the maintenance of the current guard of Mr. Christofias until the end of his term. time, said the Minister of Justice and Public Order Ionas Nikolaou.Asked to comment on information about threats against the former President of the Republic Dimitris Christofias, as well as on the decision of the Council of Ministers regarding the guarding of Mr. Christofias, Mr. Nikolaou said that the Council of Ministers after evaluating the suggestion of the Police to stay of the same situation, ie the members of the guard of the former President to be 15, decided to extend the continuation of this situation until the end of the year.
He then said he would re-evaluate the situation to see if the guard should be reduced to similar levels as other state officials.
"The reasons why the previous Council of Ministers decided then, that is, in February 2013, that this number of guard escorts should be granted to guard the former President of the Republic are repeated in the proposal that they had submitted to us again for extension purposes. and for this reason we decided to continue the same situation, giving instructions to the Deputy Chief of Police who is also responsible for matters concerning the Security Committee to examine these reasons and to clarify whether they continue to it exists ", he added.
Answering a relevant question, Mr. Nikolaou said that issues concerning the security of state officials or politicians, etc., or even ordinary citizens are considered by the Security Committee and it takes into account all the information that comes near her, as well as any investigations that have been made.
"From what I have been informed, there have been some phone calls made to Mr. Christofias in the past which are being investigated. These issues are still under investigation and for this reason, as this situation continues, the Council of Ministers decided to extend the maintenance of the current guard to the former President of the Republic, in order to complete these investigations and re-evaluate the situation. "end of December", he added.
Commenting that older threats are being investigated and not new ones, Mr. Nikolaou said that the old threats that the former President of the Republic had accepted are being investigated.
"As long as the Police Security Committee has decided that the investigations are continuing and this requires the maintenance and continuation of the status of the same guard of the former President of the Republic, this thing is definitely necessary, and has been taken seriously by the Council of Ministers." , he added.
Asked if other measures have been taken to protect Mr. Christofias, Mr. Nikolaou said that the former President of the Republic has a guard numbering around 15 members.
"There is a guard at the house, in Kellaki and his entourage. Beyond that, any other measures are not included. These are the measures that were set by the previous Council of Ministers and which asked us to maintain them in view of the investigation that is taking place, but at some point and when the investigations are completed and there is no risk, we will of course wait for the Commission's views. "Security - certainly the number of the bodyguard of the former President of the Republic should be limited to similar levels that other state officials have," he added.
Asked how many members the guard of other state or political officials has, Mr. Nikolaou said that the former President Glafkos Clerides has three members, the former President George Vassilios has two members, while the President of DISY Averof Neophytou, the AKEL Secretary General Andros Kyprianou, DIKO President Marios Karoyan have six members.
Announcements and calls
In a letter to the police chief dated On August 19, 2013, the head of the former President's guard, after pointing out that the decision to place the 15 police officers in Mr. Christofias' house, cottage and escort expired at the end of August, noted that the guarding should continue. As he put it, "especially after the explosion in Marie, the threats against the life of the former President intensified. From time to time we receive various information about threats to his life, as a result of which we take increased protection measures both in his places of residence and in his various movements. In this letter I will mention only two mobile phone numbers from which we repeatedly receive threats from anonymous persons and the worrying thing is that they know and report to us our every move and the paths of the former President ".
Source: CITIZEN