The naturalisation of former chief of Russian multinational energy corporation Gazprom Nikolay Gornovskiy was discussed at Tuesday’s hearing of the two former MPs facing criminal charges over a report by Al Jazeera into the alleged illegal naturalisations of people as citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, commonly known as the ‘golden passports scandal’.

Former House president Demetris Syllouris and former Akel MP Christakis Giovani are both facing charges including conspiracy to subvert the Republic and influencing a public official, in violation of the laws criminalising corruption.

The day’s hearing began with the questioning of an employee of the police’s criminal investigation department by defence lawyer Charis Karaolidou. The witness had submitted a 10-page written statement, with Karaolidou asking questions about it.

Among the questions asked was one about Gornovskiy’s naturalisation, with the court being shown photographs of both Syllouris and Giovani “with foreigners” related to the case, and the witness explaining that the photographs were taken at Giovani’s house in Paralimni.

Videos were also shown to the court, with Syllouris “shown with foreigners at Giovani’s house” in one video, with Giovani, his employee and former defendant Antonis Antoniou, estate agent Anthony Kay, lawyer and former defendant Andreas Pittadjis, and Gornovskiy all shown together in another.

The witness later said statements had been taken by the police from Pittadjis, Kay and other representatives of real estate company Sold On Cyprus, which featured in the documentary, with Kay having “referred to the involvement of [Syllouris and Giovani] in the Gornovskiy case”.

He added that Gornovskiy’s naturalisation file was “one of those studied by the investigative team”, and that in this case, “there was involvement” on the part of Giovani.

Gornovskiy’s application for Cypriot citizenship, he said, was filed on January 17, 2019, and “all documents relating to his naturalisation were filed then, including confirmations of the collection of the amount of his investment”.

In addition, the witness said, an email was found from Pittadjis two days later, sent to the interior ministry official who was examining the file, requesting that Gornovskiy be “exceptionally naturalised because he could not come to Cyprus for medical reasons”.

That request was rejected, but on April 18 that year, the same request was sent by fax to the same official by then interior minister director-general Kypros Kyprianou, with a medical certificate also sent at the time.

That fax had been sent from the House president’s office, Syllouris’ office at the time, the witness said.

The witness said Kyprianou had testified that Syllouris had “contacted him two or three times” regarding the progress of naturalisation applications, with Gornovskiy’s case one of those occasions.

Later during the questioning, the witness said that four certificates bearing Giovani’s signature were found, based on a contract which had been signed for Gornovskiy’s investment, through which he acquired citizenship.

The witness was then cross-examined by Syllouris’ lawyer Chris Triantafyllides, and was asked whether he saw the minutes of the cabinet meeting in which it was decided to grant Gornovskiy citizenship, with particular attention paid to the incumbent Attorney-General George Savvides and his assistant Savvas Angelides.

Savvides was at the time justice minister and Angelides was defence minister.

The witness said that both Savvides and Angelides “decided positively”.

Giovani’s lawyer George Papaioannou then asked the witness why he had not submitted as evidence a statement he had received from Gornovskiy in 2022.

The witness said he “was not asked”, with Papaioannou then requesting that the statement be submitted as evidence.

Karaolidou objected to this, saying it would be “unacceptable”, and that the submission of such a testimony would be “oxymoronic and unprecedented”.

Papaioannou replied that Gornovskiy is a “central figure” in the case, and said the submission of a statement by Gornovskiy, given that it exists, is important for the fairness of the trial.

The court decided against Karaolidou’s objection, and as such, Gornovskiy’s testimony will be permissible as evidence.

The case will continue on Thursday.

Al Jazeera aired an almost hour-long exposé of the scandal in October 2020, prompting Syllouris and Giovanis to both resign.

In the documentary, undercover reporters played the role of agents acting on behalf of a fictional Chinese businessman with a criminal record, aiming to secure him Cypriot citizenship.

Syllouris, Giovanis and others were shown offering to help the man in his quest for citizenship despite his criminal record.

The government of the day then scrapped Cyprus’ citizenship by investment scheme, with the European Union having launched legal proceedings over claims the scheme had been used to sell passports to dubious individuals.

A subsequent inquiry found that 53 per cent of 6,779 citizenships granted through the scheme were unlawful, with the government since having commenced the process of cancelling the citizenship of some naturalised through the scheme.