Golden passports case: ten defendants seek trial within a trial over police evidence

Ten defendants — former transport minister Marios Demetriades, eight other individuals and two companies, Andreas Demetriades Co LLC and Delsk Business Services Ltd — appeared at Nicosia criminal court on Tuesday in the 'golden passports' case. The charges cover corruption, bribery, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering tied to the naturalisation of 19 Asian investors under the now-defunct citizenship-by-investment scheme, and all defendants deny them. Defence lawyer Elias Stefanou requested a trial within a trial, arguing that a great deal of the prosecution evidence was irregularly obtained by police, citing three warrants issued to search the premises of the Demetriades family law firm and claiming violations of attorney-client privilege.