The President of the Republic will be treated on an equal footing during his appearance before the independent commission of inquiry, which has been set up to investigate last month’s huge blast at a naval base, Head of the commission Polys Polyviou has said.

Following the conclusion of Thursday’s public hearings, Polyviou said that the commission’s report on the incident will be concluded by September 30 and will then be made public.

He added that the commission has to make sure that it will not impair in any way the criminal investigation, which runs in parallel with commission testimonies by the authorities.

Polyviou noted that he is more “flexible” in investigating the political responsibilities concerning the incident, which, he said, is the central part of his job.

He added that when it comes to the part of the criminal investigation, he needs to be more careful, by stating the facts, highlighting the legal aspects and making recommendations to the Attorney General.

Concerning the presence of the President of the Republic at the commission’s hearings, Polyviou said that the President will respond to questions on Monday, after reading a brief statement.

Asked whether the President will eventually appear before the commission for a second time, Polyviou said that all will depend on how the procedure develops, adding that a person is invited for a second time only in extraordinary circumstances.

Following the blast, at the naval base “Evaggelos Florakis”, near Limassol, on July 11, the government appointed a commission of inquiry, headed by lawyer Polis Polyviou.

The commission investigates the circumstances that have led to last month’s massive explosion of munitions, which killed 13 people and destroyed the island’s main power station. The commission will also look into possible political responsibilities.

The blast occurred in containers, full of munitions, which Cyprus stored at the naval base, after confiscating the load from “Monchegorsk”, a vessel sailing from Iran to Syria in 2009. Cyprus was acting according to UN Security Council resolutions.