A fierce clash has erupted between the Attorney General and the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority over the black van case.
In a recent statement, George Savvidis responded to the IAC’s written statement issued that morning, noting that
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
- In its letter dated July 16, 2026, the Authority did not generally outline its intentions, as stated in today’s announcement, but included the exact, detailed and precise terms of reference to be provided to the prospective investigators, who, the Authority informed us, were scheduled to begin investigating the case on August 3, 2026.
- No reference or mention was included in the above terms of reference regarding how the Republic’s Legal Service was to handle the case. If the Authority continues to maintain its position, it could declassify its own letter, remove references to specific names, and make it public.
- In its announcement today, the Authority has chosen to use fragmentary and selective excerpts from the July 29, 2026, discussion.
- I would like to emphasize that my letter the following day, July 30, 2026, addressed each of the Authority’s terms of reference, explaining that all had been investigated and stating the outcome of the investigation for each one.
- My letter dated July 30, 2026, contains no reference whatsoever to a possible investigation against the Assistant Attorney General, and I wonder how the Authority interpreted my letter as implying or suggesting that the Assistant Attorney General was under investigation. How did it conclude that this letter also pertained to an investigation of the Assistant Attorney General, when the terms of reference to which we responded made no mention of him whatsoever? It should be noted that in previous instances where the Authority intended to investigate complaints against the Assistant Attorney General, this was explicitly stated in its letters.
- It is highly puzzling how the Authority (as stated in paragraph 7 of its announcement today) concluded, based on the content of my letter dated July 30, 2026, that the investigation conducted by the Police and the independent criminal investigator also covered the complaints against the Assistant Attorney General that were filed in 2023, when the investigation into the “black van” case was completed in 2021.
Earlier, in a statement, the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority noted that “it was clear that the scope of the proposed investigation” also “included the Assistant Attorney General.”
This new statement came in response to yesterday’s remarks by the Attorney General that the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority had not raised any issues regarding the Legal Department’sregarding the “Black Van” case and the conflict of interest involving the Assistant Attorney General.
In its statement this morning, the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority reiterated that “it had been decided to expand the scope of the investigation on its own initiative to cover all aspects of the ‘Black Van’ case, and that to this end, a letter dated dated July 16, 2026, had been sent to the Attorney General, in which the Authority’s intentions were outlined in general terms.”
It noted, in “a meeting was arranged at the offices of the Legal Service because clarifications were needed regarding the exact scope of the proposed investigation, which took place on July 29, 2026.” He added that those present at the meeting, on behalf of the Legal Service, included the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, a Prosecutor, and a Senior Attorney of the Republic; and on behalf of the Authority, the Commissioner for Transparency, a member of the Authority, and a Legal Associate.
“During the meeting, when it became clear that the scope of the proposed investigation also included the Assistant Attorney General, he deemed it appropriate to withdraw from the meeting, since the investigation would also concern him,” the AAKD emphasized, adding that “from that moment on, at the very least—if not earlier—the Authority’s intention to include the Deputy Attorney General in the proposed investigation was known.”
Continuing, the AAKD referred to the Attorney General’s letter dated July 30, 2026, in which he stated that everything the Authority wished to investigate had already been investigated, adding that “this reasonably gave the impression that this also included the matter of the Deputy Attorney General.”
He had also pointed out that the Authority had clearly expressed its intention to conduct an investigation and to include within its scope all aspects of the black van, and to achieve this goal, it had been gathering evidence on all relevant events over a long period of time.
READ ALSO: Anti-Corruption Authority on the “black van” case: It is clear that the Deputy Attorney General will also be included in the investigation | AlphaNews
