Eight defendants enter not guilty pleas in Nicosia Central Prisons document case

On Tuesday, eight defendants appeared before the Nicosia Criminal Court to answer nine joint charges related to the alleged theft of documents and equipment from the Central Prisons. The group includes former Prison Director Anna Aristotelous, former Assistant Director Athina Dimitriou, five correctional staff members, and one current police officer who is a former prison employee. The charges involve the theft of 48,432 documents, 370 architectural drawings of the prison facility, and 431 digital devices, including USBs and discs. Additionally, Anna Aristotelous faces a separate, tenth charge for allegedly permitting the leakage of classified documents during her tenure as director. All eight defendants entered pleas of not guilty to all charges. The defense raised preliminary objections regarding the fairness of the trial and potential abuse of process. The court scheduled March 26 for arguments regarding these procedural objections. The prosecution confirmed that all evidentiary material has been provided to the defense in electronic form, although certain documents deemed confidential will remain restricted to inspection at Police Headquarters.