NICOSIA, Oct 14 (AFP) - Cyprus Health Minister Dina Akkelidou is to stand trial for sending a letter to a judge seeking leniency to ensure that a suspected drug dealer was not sent to prison, the attorney general said on Thursday.
It is believed to be the first time a serving government minister will be put in dock.
Akkelidou, the only woman minister in the cabinet, and a member of the AKEL communist party, wrote to a district court judge trying a drugs case seeking leniency for the accused. The court made the letter public last month.
Attorney General Solon Nikitas told police to "carry out a criminal inquiry to ascertain if a criminal offence was committed by sending the letter".
He said he was now ready to prosecute the minister.
Nikitas said he has given instructions for a criminal prosecution to proceed. "This is what I have decided based on the evidence that I had before me," Nikitas told reporters.
Akkelidou has apologised for her "mistake" saying it was a "totally innocent" act to help the drug suspect remain in rehabilitation.
She is expected to face a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The minister came under fire last year after confidential documents that should have been destroyed were left in binliners under a health ministry staircase.