For the past seven months, the members of the newly established Directorate for Combating Organized Crime—commonly known as the “Cyprus Directorate”—have been “entangled” in the bureaucratic maelstrom, the members of the newly established Directorate for Combating Organized Crime—the so-called “Cypriot FBI”—who still lack the facilities needed to operate and carry out their work.
Appearing as a guest on the Alpha News program, Justice Minister Konstantinos Fytiris made no secret of his disappointment and frustration over the fact that, although the unit has been established, it has not yet moved into a single building to carry out its work. As he explained, signatures and approvals are required from various government agencies involved.
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Mr. Fytiris noted that the establishment and operation of the Cypriot FBI will be yet another valuable tool in the authorities’ arsenal for combating organized crime, in which “the ‘leaders’ always have clean hands.”
READ ALSO: Assets from Illegal Activities: Fytiris, Damianou, and MOKAS Discussed the New Recovery and Management System
Along the same lines, efforts are also underway in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and MOKAS to implement a new framework for the recovery and management of assets derived from illicit activities, as part of the implementation of the European Directive on the recovery and confiscation of assets.
As he explained, the relevant law grants the authorities involved the right to confiscate assets even before a suspect is convicted, provided the suspect cannot prove how they acquired the assets in question.
At the same time, the Minister of Justice has stated that he is ready to return shortly before the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs to re-discuss the proposed bill on surveillance, which is already being revised by the Legal Service.
He even described it as “one of the greatest weapons we can have” in the fight against organized crime and expressed his intention to engage in dialogue so that this time a “middle ground” can be found.
