Cypriot ex-minister given more time to prepare defense
Former Cypriot Interior Minister Dinos Michailides was on Friday granted an extension until Wednesday to defend himself before a Greek investigating magistrate in connection with a money-laundering racket centered around former Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos.
Michailides, who was extradited to Greece Friday, has been implicated in the laundering of money from kickbacks that Tsochatzopoulos is alleged to have pocketed from the purchase of Russian missile systems.
Last week a Cyprus court ordered that Michailides’s son Michalis be extradited for trial for the same case.
The latter has appealed the ruling.