With the testimony of three police experts, the trial of George Christodoulou, known as “Zavrantona,” regarding the importation and possession of more than 15 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute. During the proceedings, the defense raised the issue of a violation of the defendant’s right to a fair trial, specifically regarding the failure to preserve the raw data from “Marona’s” cell phones.
In 2022, Zavrantonas was found guilty by the Nicosia Criminal Court of drug possession with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. In May 2026, the Court of Appeals overturned the conviction on grounds of procedural irregularities and ordered a retrial.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
At today’s hearing, during his examination, Police Officer G.M. of the Criminal Investigation Division presented his report regarding the closed-circuit surveillance footage from the home of Yiannis Andreou, also known as “Maronas.”
During cross-examination, Zavrantonas’s defense attorney, Christos Poutziouris, noted that the exact time of arrival at and departure from the residence cannot be determined from the videos.
A second witness testified—a police officer from the Police Information Technology Division—who confirmed his report based on the checks he conducted on the cell phones of “Maronas.”
The representative of the Prosecution, Vasilis Bisas, asked the witness whether he had tampered with the data on the cell phones, to which the witness replied that the extracted data is read-only and cannot be modified.
The defense attorney posed a series of questions to the witness regarding how data is extracted from cell phones, challenging his expertise.
Subsequently, Mr. Poutziouris asked the witness why the raw data from the cell phones was not retained, to which the police officer replied that it was not retained due to its large size.
“You have violated the defendant’s right to a fair trial because the defendant cannot confirm, through his own expert, which raw files you failed to retain,” the defense attorney then said, addressing the witness.
The third witness to testify was a police officer who serves at the Forensic Laboratory of the Police Headquarters.
The witness answered questions from defense attorney Christos Poutziouris regarding the method of extracting and examining data from cell phones.
Mr. Poutziouris pointed out that the reports submitted to the Court include selected files, which were chosen by the case investigator or the forensic examiner.
The Court ruled that Giorgos Christodoulou remain in custody until the next hearing, which was set for September 11 at 10:30 a.m.
At the same time, the prosecution and the defense expressed their readiness to submit written arguments at the next hearing.
Furthermore, as mentioned, a new witness may be summoned, provided there is an agreement between the two sides.
Source: CNA
