UPDATE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR ME . OFFICE of MICHAEL MINAS 2A Zakynthou Street Flat 302 Strovolos, Nicosia 2062 CYPRUS 2 January 2015 EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN REFERENCE: TP Complaint 1921/2014/CK ATTN: CHRISTINA KARAKOSTA, LEGAL OFFICER, DIRECTORATE B-COMPLAINTS AND INQUIRIES, UNIT 3, BRUSSELS SUBJECT: PETITIONS 0968-14 & 1299-14 Dear Mrs Karakosta, In response to your email dated 12 December, I would like to make the following observations. There has been a big and unacceptable delay by the European Parliament in responding to my complaint. My complaint was filed in April 2014. Almost 10 months later I received no official response. Further on, I was treated unfairly by the media in Cyprus in violation of my human rights as an independent candidate for the European Parliament elections 2014. Specifically, state channel Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) broadcast polls before the expiration of the deadline for the official submission of the candidacies. This constitutes a clear manipulation of the polls and the public as the results were skewed. That is, the winners were presented even before all the candidacies were submitted. A relevant complaint to the state channel was dismissed as non-existent. It is a well-known fact that polls in Cyprus are ordered by the parties and the media and they are paid for. Because of the size of the country, the results are skewed and cannot be trusted. Due to these particularities, these polls also manipulate the public. For this reason I specifically requested that I am not included in any such polls and requested that a footnote is provided clarifying this in any published polls. To be fair, a couple of media did respect my wishes and provided such a footnote next to my name, explaining that I chose not to participate in such polls. See attachment. In addition CyBC also violated the principle of giving all candidates equal air time/equal opportunities to present their positions. I received no invitation to participate in any program to present my views. I complained about both issues to Cypruss Radio and Television Authority. The response of the Radio and Television Authority was very late and did not deal with the essence of the matter. After I investigated the matter, I realized that the chairman of the Radio and Television Authority has personal connections with the company IMR (Insights Market Research)/University of Nicosia (owned by Mrs Christina Kokkalou), which conducted the poll on behalf of CyBC. Is this a coincidence? I seriously doubt it. I then complained to Cypruss ombudsman Mrs Eliza Savvidou who responded that these matters do not fall under her jurisdiction and she cannot investigate such complaints! I am attaching the Cyprus Ombudsmans response to my complaint. This is a violation of my human rights as an independent candidate. I was unfairly treated and did not receive the same treatment as the political parties. For me, the response of Cypruss ombudsman indicates that this is not really an independent authority. This is only in words. The institution appears to be fully controlled by the government and it is the mouthpiece of the government I also resorted to the Ministry of interior which is responsible for conducting the elections. The Ministry took absolutely no action. The Cypriot Minister of Interior Socrates Chasikos took no action to protect my human rights as a European citizen. Three times I asked to talk with him to discuss the specific issue but he never returned my phone calls. I do think that the principles and values of the Radio and Television Authority entail unfair treatment of independent candidates or that the independent candidates intentionally be kept in the dark and are ignored/disregarded, or not given the same opportunities to present their ideas and positions. My conclusion is that the various election institutions in Cyprus are not up to European standards and they violate the European equal election rights in a flagrant way. Only someone who has millions can find justice by filing lawsuits at European courts. Best regards Michael Minas Attachments
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 15:28:08 +0000
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