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Citizenship Scheme Trial Postponed to July

Published March 9, 2026, 12:12
Citizenship Scheme Trial Postponed to July

The start of the trial for the citizenship scheme case, involving former Transport Minister Marios Demetriades and other individuals, has been postponed to July 2026. The postponement is due to the increased workload of the Permanent Criminal Court of Nicosia. The new start date has been set for July 8th, 2026, at 09:30. A total of ten individuals (eight natural and two legal persons) face various charges, including influence, bribery, corruption, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering from illegal activities, and violation of the Council of Europe convention on the criminalization of corruption. In addition to Mr. Demetriades, Andreas Demetriades, Dimitris Demetriades, Giorgos Demetriades, Eleni Simillidi, Jing Wang, Josef Friedrich Santin, Vasiliki Georgiou-Santin, the company Andreas Demetriades & Co LLC and the company Delsk (Cyprus) Business Services Ltd are also accused. The presumption of innocence applies to all accused until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt by the court.