The Cyprus Police confirmed on Wednesday that it has formally handed over to the legal service the complete file documenting its investigation into the importation and circulation of faulty Takata airbags in the country. The submission to the legal service comes fifteen months after an ad hoc committee released its findings, which recommended that criminal charges be brought against three individuals. Attorney-general George Savvides received that committee report in July of last year and subsequently referred it to both the police and the cabinet for further action.
Now, Savvides is expected to review the police investigation file and determine whether to proceed with prosecutions. He may also request additional investigations from the police if deemed necessary. The ad hoc committee, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Michalakis Christodoulou, included bar association chairman Michael Vorkas and audit office member Theodosios Hadjimichail. Their report concluded that the four individuals who served as transport minister between 2013 and 2023 bear heavy responsibility for the faulty airbag issue and its penetration into the Cypriot market.
The four transport ministers identified in the report are Efthymios Flourentzou, Marios Demetriades, Vasiliki Anastasiadou, and incumbent Famagusta district governor Yiannis Karousos. The committee criticized all four for failing to acknowledge or take responsibility for the problem, noting that they dismissed their involvement under the pretext that no one had informed them about the Takata airbag defects or how the road transport department handled the situation. The report disagreed with this stance, stating that ministers do not require direct personal involvement for responsibility to be attributed to them.
The committee found that former ministers were responsible for the inaction, negligence, and indifference demonstrated by the road transport department. It also noted that Alexis Vafeades, who served as transport minister between 2023 and August this year, became involved in addressing the problem after being alerted by the father of Kyriakos Oxinos, who was killed in an incident involving a faulty airbag in 2023. Vafeades had not been informed by competent authorities or the ministry's permanent secretary. The potential criminal charges relate to multiple cases, including Alexandros Lougos who suffered life-altering injuries in 2017, and the deaths of Styliani Giorgalli and Oxinos. The faulty airbags, manufactured by Japanese company Takata, can explode when exposed to high heat or humidity, shooting metal inflators toward vehicle occupants.