President Nikos Chritodoulides announced before Tuesday’s council of ministers meeting that he had asked the US government for the assistance of the FBI in the investigation into the ‘Sandy’ case, particularly in analysing the statements and witness testimonies. “The experience will help the speedy investigation of the case to go ahead,” he said.

Requesting the assistance of the FBI has become a bit of a habit for the president, this being the third time. The Bureau’s experts first came here to help the authorities crack down on money laundering and sanctions-busting and they were back last year to investigate the causes of the wildfires that killed two people and destroyed many homes in the Limassol hills.

In case of anti-money laundering (AML) assistance was needed for two very strong reasons. The Cypriot authorities did not do a very good AML job nor were they very effective in enforcing sanctions against Russian companies and individuals. Having the FBI here, offering advice was also a way of showing the United States, which had often criticised Cyprus for its ineffective AML policies that the government meant business.

There was no plausible justification for inviting the FBI here last year to investigate the wildfires. It was a publicity exercise by the president, aimed at deflecting attention away from the government’s responsibility for the destruction. The FBI agents, in the end, told us nothing we did not know, nor did they shed any new light on the investigation, despite their expertise and experience.

And now Chrsitodoulides has asked for the FBI’s help in the ‘Sandy’ investigation, “particularly for analysis of statements and witness testimony.” Are the Cypriot police incapable of doing this? They know the language in which all the information is, much better than the American officers; they are also much more in tune with the culture and social context, so why has the president asked for FBI assistance?

If the police force of the Republic is not trusted by the president of Cyprus to carry out an honest and objective investigation, there is something seriously wrong here. Was Christodoulides unable to find two honest individuals, with integrity, to lead the criminal investigation? Does he believe there are no such people in all of Cyprus and opted for the embarrassing choice of the FBI? Could he not have asked for assistance, if he does not trust Cypriot police and lawyers, from one of our EU partners, instead of contacting the US government?

Inviting the FBI was another publicity gimmick of the type our president specialises in. If it were not, he would have kept it a secret, rather than proudly advertising it and creating the impression he does not anyone in the country to carry out the investigation.