Nicosia criminal court on Tuesday dismissed a motion to declare a mistrial in the case of Giorgos Christodoulou, alias ‘Zavrantonas’, who is facing charges of importing 15kg of cocaine.

The court also said it would rule by the next hearing, scheduled for June 16, on whether the defendant’s lawyers should have access to three documents pertaining to the main witness for the prosecution.

The prosecution witness is Yiannis Andreou, alias ‘Maronas’.

He had initially been sentenced to 16 years in prison for the same case. Having served four, Andreou was subsequently granted a presidential pardon.

In court on Tuesday, the defence said that Andreou’s release from jail had been conditional on his leaving Cyprus.

The defence wants to see the documents pertaining to Andreou, as they suspect he may have been offered inducements to turn state witness.

Christodoulou was originally sentenced in December 2022 to 22 years in prison, but that conviction was recently overturned by the appeals court, which ordered the case to be retried from the beginning.

Christos Poutziouris, the lead attorney for defendant Christodoulou, also argued that the case should be declared a mistrial and re-filed.

But the criminal court, now re-trying the case, rejected the motion, citing the appeals court’s explicit decision for a re-trial rather than re-filing the case from scratch.

The court said it has jurisdiction to try the case.

Meanwhile Christodoulou remains in custody at the central prisons.

During the previous hearing, his lawyers motioned for his release, noting that it has been four years since his sentencing and conviction were set aside.

The court rejected the motion, finding that there remained a serious risk both of absconding and further criminal activity.