MPs grill Justice Minister for reporting parody account
MPs on Monday rounded on Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis for undermining democracy in reporting a Twitter parody account which led police to raid the home of a Larnaca teacher.
Appearing before the House Human Rights Committee, Yiolitis refuted the accusations, arguing that she had nothing to apologise for, as she had filed a complaint to the police as an ordinary citizen.
She argued it was done to protect her family’s honour, which she claimed, was being tarnished by the parody account.
Also in parliament was Police Chief Stelios Papatheodorou, and Niki Zarou the woman whose home was raided by police officers last December.
Despite the account in question clearly stating it is a parody account, the police secured a search warrant for Zarou’s home on the grounds of false impersonation and personal data violations.
Papatheodorou admitted that police may have overreacted in this case, noting: “We as the police should be more careful in the future”.
Interpreted as a mea culpa, Papatheodorou conceded the police had not consulted the Attorney General on the case.
“I wish we had because the instructions might have been different”.
During the raid, police had confiscated, not only Zarou’s electronic devices but also those of her children.
The search warrant was declared void by the
Supreme Court with Zarou saying she would file for compensation from the state, claiming damages to her and her family.
Zarou challenged police to produce any evidence showing she was the account administrator, arguing that Yiolitis should be “ashamed” for what she did.
Yiolitis has been taking the heat from opposition and human rights organisations because as Justice Minister she is the political boss of the police who ‘overreached’ its powers in raiding the home of an alleged operator of a parody account.
Seeking to demonstrate her hands-off approach, Yiolitis argued the police had acted by the book claiming that similar cases filed by other politicians, saw them take action within 24 hours.
It is the first time a minister has been called before parliament over actions taken against a parody account.
Yiolitis said after the committee session that MPs “came primed for a quarrel, populism and to distract attention”.
When asked whether she received death threats: “I receive threats and I am concerned about the very toxic climate that exists. I experience it every day.”
AKEL MP Eleni Mavrou told the minister: “You do not realise what you have done, that your actions led to the trampling of human rights, abuse of power, institutional intimidation.”