Al Jazeera conducted an investigation based on the leaked papers and allegedly found that the Republic of Cyprus provided citizenship through the CIP to several people linked to crime and corruption.
[3] People appeared in the video included, among others, Cyprus Speaker of the House of Representatives Demetris Syllouris, Member of Parliament Christakis Giovanis, lawyer Andreas G. Pittadjis and Antonis Antoniou property executive of Giovannis Group.
Notably in the video, Demetris Syllouris meets with Al Jazeera's under-cover journalists posing as representatives of an actually non-existing Chinese businessman and convicted money-launderer who seeks to obtain a Cyprus passport via the CIP.
In response to Al Jazeera's accusations, Syllouris claimed that he was actually playing along with the rest of the people shown in the video to gather more information about the criminal Chinese businessman and to finally report the case to the Cyprus authorities.
The protesters demanded a full, prompt and transparent investigation and the immediate resignation of President of the House of Representatives Demetris Syllouris and Member of Parliament Christakis Giovanis.