Former auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides, who was removed from office by a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling last September, is to give a new statement to the police next week regarding an investigation into alleged contempt of court on his part in light of his dismissal, according to reports on Wednesday.

The Cyprus News Agency reported that Michaelides will give a new statement to the police on Monday after it was “deemed necessary” for him to do so by the police.

An investigation into Michaelides’ conduct had been launched last week after comments he had made on a television show in May alleging that a close associate of President Nikos Christodoulides knew in advance of September’s court ruling that he was going to be relieved of his duties.

On the same day, he had written on social media that “President Christodoulides is hiding, but was part of the process”, and that “a close aide knew from July 2024, before final arguments, that the Supreme Constitutional Court’s decision would be unanimous”.

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The following day, Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis called on him to produce evidence to support his claims, while the Supreme Constitutional Court made a similar statement, saying that “all evidence allegedly held by Michaelides must be immediately forwarded to the competent state authorities for prompt examination”.

The police visited Michaelides on the same day, though he did not provide them with evidence to support his claims, saying he needed to “protect his source”.

Michaelides was appointed by then president Nicos Anastasiades as auditor-general in 2014, and was relieved of his duties by the Supreme Constitutional in September last year, with an eight-judge panel unanimously ruling that he had conducted himself inappropriately, and that he was thus unfit to carry out the office’s duties.

The court’s verdict was 209 pages long and scathing, with Michaelides having been found to have repeatedly sought to undermine attorney-general George Savvides’ legal opinions, often writing his own interpretations which contradicted those of Savvides.

It was written in the decision that Michaelides “did not limit himself to the role of the whistleblower to the independent anti-corruption authority but reserved for himself the role of a judge after proceeding to draw conclusions on his statements and submissions.”

Additionally, the court referred to “obscene content” which occurred on a social media page dedicated to supporting Michaelides, saying that although the page did not belong to Michaelides, “it bore his name and photograph.”

Michaelides himself had said the decision “essentially abolishes the audit service and democracy”, adding that it “puts a corset, a gag, on the audit office.”

“It is a black day for Cyprus and a black day for our service,” he said.

Savvides had in turn warned those decrying the decision to read it before passing judgement.

“A court order has been issued and I just want to emphasise that it is important to support the [Republic’s] institutions, and to show the required respect to the Supreme Constitutional Court. Woe betide us if we lose faith in the courts,” he said.

Earlier this year, he opened an office with a view of the presidential palace in Nicosia seen by some as a move symbolic of his future political ambitions.

He has since launched a new political party, named ‘Alma’ – Greek for ‘leap’.

At the party’s launch, he said Cyprus “needs a restart here and now”, and that “the existing political system, as It has been evolutionarily distorted, constitutes a handbrake on the country’s progress”.

“We seek a Cyprus different from the one which disappoints us. An effective state with strategic targeting and reliable institutions. A state which will be founded with the public benefit in mind and which will be able to practically promote the economy’s human-centred development, ensuring that all live with dignity, prosperity, equality and respect for their rights and their expectations,” he said.