‘Obscene slander’: auditor general denounces parody account

Auditor general Odysseas Michaelides on Wednesday slammed the Jho Low parody account on X (formerly Twitter), accusing it of “obscenely slandering” him and “consciously spreading lies against those it wants to destroy”.

Michaelides’ post follows a previous one published on Sunday, in which he defended his sister’s appointment to the finance ministry in 2018, after the parody account recently raised doubts about the legitimacy of her nomination.

Wednesday’s post directly accused the user behind the account of targeting him and the office he represents. He also suggested that the person publishing the tweets might be a disgruntled politician.

“The dirty account and the person or politician behind it has been fighting me for months,” Michaelides’ post said.

“Since October 2022, as soon as the account started to ‘get stronger’, I have been called an ‘animal’ and I have been constantly berated.

“This particular account is dirty because it does not criticise but slanders obscenely and because it consciously lies against those it wants to destroy.”

The auditor general also confirmed on X that he reported the parody account to the platform. The police are already looking into the account.

Michaelides, however, added that his accusation towards the account are not to be intended as a dig to the media and social media in general.

“The media and social media are ‘natural allies’ of the Audit Office, and not competitors. By uncovering scandals, they provide us with material for new investigations, so that those holding public office are held accountable.

“We (the Audit Office) are dutifully bearers of true and reliable information, and it is therefore our duty to defend the truth.”

The auditor general also recently defended the health ministry’s permanent secretary Christina Yiannaki after the parody account posted questionable material about her qualifications for her appointment.

Earlier this week, Michaelides reported that he had carried out a check of Yiannaki’s qualifications in June 2021, “and from the examination of original certificates of her academic and other qualifications, no indication of their possible forgery emerged.”