A former senior interior ministry official told a Nicosia court on Wednesday that although he received repeated phone calls from former House president Demetris Syllouris and other MPs regarding citizenship applications, he was never asked to act unlawfully.

Kypros Kyprianou, who served as director general of the ministry of interior between December 2017 and August 2020, was giving evidence as a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial linked to Cyprus’ controversial citizenship-for-investment scheme.

The case, which stems from an undercover documentary by Al Jazeera, has placed Syllouris and former MP Christakis Giovanis in the dock, accused of attempting to influence decisions on granting Cypriot passports to foreign investors.

In his testimony before the criminal court, Kyprianou said Syllouris would often call him to ask about delays in applications, particularly those involving clients of Giovanis.

“I never received a request to do anything improper,” Kyprianou said.

“The calls were mainly to check on the progress of applications, and while they sometimes requested faster processing, the ministry always followed proper order.”

The court also heard that Syllouris contacted Kyprianou about a specific case involving Russian national Nikolai Gornovsky. The applicant had sought an exemption from providing biometric data in person due to a health issue.

According to Kyprianou, Syllouris had sent him documents about Gornovsky’s case, including a medical certificate via fax. Kyprianou said he forwarded the papers to the responsible officer at the ministry.

“I didn’t find it strange,” he told the court. “Syllouris often phoned to ask about cases related to Giovanis’ clients.”

When questioned by state prosecutor Charis Karaolidou, Kyprianou said he may have discussed the matter with former interior minister Constantinos Petrides and officer Christina Kaoulla, though he could not recall for certain.

The defence, led by lawyer Chris Triantafyllides, argued that the final decision on citizenships lay with the council of ministers.

Kyprianou agreed, stating that the interior minister would prepare a recommendation note for the cabinet based on information gathered by ministry services.

Pressed further, Kyprianou highlighted that Petrides exercised his authority “strictly,” approving only six fast-track cases out of some 1,500 handled during his term.

The witness also confirmed that Syllouris contacted him about non-citizenship matters, including cases involving Kurdish individuals and stranded students abroad.

Kyprianou reiterated that in the Gornovsky case, Syllouris simply asked for the matter to be reviewed in light of possible health concerns.

“I told him that if there were legal grounds to reconsider, to send the documents and we would examine them, as we would with any complaint,” he said.