Criminal defense attorney Giannos Ioannou expressed the view—while speaking on the program *Alpha Kalimera*— criminal defense attorney Giannos Ioannou.

As he explained,  there is no provision in the law for the recusal of the Attorney General, as there is for judges, and therefore these recusals “create a power vacuum and must be addressed immediately.”

A common observation, as Mr. Ioannou emphasized, is “that the Attorney General is the chief authority; therefore we must consider the possibility that this principal authority might not be involved. One way is for the executive branch to send the message that if they cannot carry out their duties, they must step down.”

At the same time, as he explained, “while the cabinet does have the authority to appoint criminal investigators, these criminal investigators will not have the powers that the Attorney General has,” since “they won’t even have the right to appoint a private public prosecutor. Only the Attorney General can do that, and he says ‘no.’” This, according to Mr. Ioannou, “means that we’ll reach the final day of the trial, some will say ‘mea culpa’—if they say it at all—and the case will be shelved, just like some other cases.”

According to the criminal defense attorney, in this case there are only two possibilities: “either resignations or the withdrawal of the recusal—that is what I would advise them to do —to do their job properly, without interfering with the substance of the case, and to at least follow the procedural requirements set forth in the Constitution.”

“I feel that we’re not functioning like a state, but like a neighborhood in another country; we need to take things seriously at all levels,” he concluded, adding that “unfortunately, far too many principles have been trampled upon.”

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