High ranking officials stressed here on Tuesday the need to forge a national anti-corruption strategy, underlining the need for the termination of impunity and for the modernisation of the relevant legal framework.
Addressing an event organized by the University of Cyprus on corruption in the public sphere, on the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day, Acting President of Cyprus, House President Yiannakis Omirou noted that need to set up an independent authority that will investigate cases of corruption in an objective and impartial way. He also noted that supervising institutions must be effectively reinforced to combat money laundering.
Attorney General Costas Clerides has said that impunity encourages and perpetuates phenomena of corruption, noting that it is imperative for every state to combat such phenomena. He stress that active citizens, citizens and prosecutors should cooperate towards this end.
General Auditor Odysseas Michaelides said that impunity has been a major long-standing problem in Cyprus which has nourished corruption. He also noted that such phenomena primarily concern politicians and political parties, that cannot be addressed through a criminal justice process but only on political terms.