July 11 marked one year since the day the findings of the Investigative Committee on the deadly Takata airbags—which “pointed to” serious political, criminal, and disciplinary liabilities, were handed over to Attorney General George Savvidis.

The parents of Kyriakos Oxinos and Styliani Giorgallis, the two tragically lost children who lost their lives due to TAKATA airbags, as well as Maria Loui’s attorney, who spoke about the information they have regarding the progress of the police investigation, one year later.

As Maria Loui, Kyriakos’s mother, and Giannos Giorgallis, Styliani’s father, stated, they receive regular updates on the progress of the investigations.

Ms. Loui has expressed understanding for the time the investigations require.

“The Criminal Investigation Division at Headquarters keeps us informed from time to time; we realize they have a heavy workload to handle. I want to say that we have no complaints about the updates we receive. On the contrary, we, too, feel that they are trying desperately to do their job properly. We are not putting any time pressure on them. And what we told them is to take the time they need to reach the right conclusion and hold accountable all those responsible for bringing us to this situation.”

He added that holding anyone criminally liable “will not ease our pain, but it will be a small consolation in bringing justice to these two souls.”

Meanwhile, the family’s attorney emphasized that the police are not providing them with detailed information on every aspect of the case.

“But the information we have—which is relatively consistent—has confirmed that, based on the findings, the investigation has been expanded. In other words, they haven’t limited themselves to the causes of death, which the Traffic Police may have already concluded. It has been expanded to determine whether there is liability on the part of both private individuals and government officials. That is, as you may recall, the report also attributed responsibility to government officials. Consequently, in the line of duty, they have taken the findings as a basis and expanded their investigation so as to resolve all issues and ensure that, wherever and whoever is at fault, they are held accountable.”

As he explained, what is required in the investigation of any case is to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

“In other words, when certain facts, certain events, and certain documents are presented before a judge, there must be no gaps, as such gaps always work in favor of the accused.”

However, once all aspects have been investigated, and the police determine that criminal liability exists, they will forward the case file to the Attorney General, who will decide whether to pursue charges and for which offenses.

He also noted that there are some technical difficulties, citing as an example that in order to determine which message was transmitted, perhaps from parent companies to official representatives, judicial assistance procedures must be initiated.

“Do we have to mourn victims?”

Styliani’s father emphasized that, unfortunately, in Cyprus, in order for something to be taken into account, we have to mourn victims.

“So, do we have to mourn victims in order to do our jobs properly? For what reason? I can’t understand certain individuals, certain people, and their way of thinking. Do you go to work and just let the day pass without producing anything? Without doing anything?” said Mr. Giorgallis.

“We shouldn’t have gotten to this point,” emphasized Mr. Spyrou, while Ms. Loui noted that there were two incidents in Cyprus in 2008, two explosions involving specific vehicles—that is, before the first warnings from Rapex arrived and before the Alexandros accident in 2017.