The government has enlisted the help of the United States’ federal bureau of investigations (FBI) to assist in its inquiries regarding allegations made by journalist Makarios Drousiotis against a number of high-profile figures, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday.

Speaking after the day’s cabinet meeting, he said he had been informed by Justice Minister Costas Fitiris about the progress made in investigations thus far and reported that “it is at a particularly advanced stage”, with “systematic work … being done” and a “continuous evaluation of all facts” underway.

He pointed out that the government is already “in constant contact and communication” with the European Union agency for law enforcement (Europol), before explaining his decision to request assistance from the FBI.

“Specifically on the issue of specialised forensic checks based on modern European standards which cannot be questioned by anyone, I want to inform you that at the same time, last week, I contacted the American government and requested the assistance of the FBI in the investigations which are being conducted,” he said.

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He added that the FBI’s assistance had been requested “especially in the analysis of the depositions and testimonies”, and that the US government’s “response was immediately positive”.

“This is an agency which, as we have seen in the past, but also from its action in general, has experience which will help to advance the rapid investigation of the case, because this is what interests us,” he said.

He then passed comment on the case at large, defending his government’s stance on the matter, saying, “from the very beginning, as a government, we have proven in practice that our tolerance for issues which affect the rule of law is zero”.

“We have a responsibility, both I as president, and all of us here in cabinet, as guardians of the constitution, with institutional seriousness as always, with responsibility to move forward by utilising our international partners, such as with the FBI for example, and one goal, and one goal only,” he said.

That one goal, he added, is “the full investigation and strengthening of the public with regard to the institutions and justice system in our country, which is a member state of the European Union”.

“The constitution exists, the institution exists, the state exists and we all have responsibility, and this is a message we want to send: we all have a responsibility, but also an obligation, to respect the constitution, the state, and the institutions,” he said.

Drousiotis’ allegations centre on a now 45-year-old woman, known only as ‘Sandy’, who he says was raped and stabbed by former supreme court judge Michalakis Christodoulou, whom he also accuses of fathering three of her children.

Christodoulou maintains his innocence, saying that he had “acted like a father” to ‘Sandy’, while other figures named by Drousiotis, including former MEP Demetris Papadakis and Edek deputy leader Morfakis Solomonides, both of whom he alleges to have “acted on the behest of Christodoulou as informants and interlocutors”, have denied the allegations.

Later, Nikos Clerides insinuated that he fears for his life in the aftermath of the allegations’ surfacing, saying, “I feel like I’m in danger”, and adding, “I don’t want anyone to think I’m suicidal”.

Newspaper Phileleftheros, meanwhile, for which Drousiotis previously worked, has insisted that Drousiotis’ accusations do not correspond with reality.

The newspaper wrote last Friday that ‘Sandy’ has one child, whose father is not Christodoulou, and that Gesy and social insurance records show that she worked continuously in Cyprus between 2001 and 2023, thus ruling out the possibility of her ever having spent an extended period of time in Germany as Drousiotis has claimed.