Hearing in Thanasis Nicolaou case postponed

Dead conscript Thanasis Nicolaou’s mother Andriana Nicolaou did not speak at court on Tuesday after the prosecution filed a request for time to be given so she can complete her written testimony, in private criminal prosecutions against five defendants. Documents related to Nicolaou’s army service, the entire content of the interrogations conducted regarding his death, including all the witness material and statements taken in the context of the interrogations, were handed to the court. A spokesman for the head of the police said that all documents, statements and other material relating to the investigation into the death of Nicolaou had been handed over to the attorney general, whose representative was asked to hand over the negatives of all photographs relating to the case, reports, correspondence and all testimonial or other material collected. The attorney general’s spokesperson stated that all the material had been handed to the prosecution, and that no documents remained. This was disputed by the defence. The defence rejected the request to postpone Andriana’s testimony, citing an unjustified development that is delaying the proceedings and causing inconvenience to the defendants and called on the court to protect their rights. The court cancelled all dates that had been given for hearing the case and set a new date for the continuation of the proceedings on November 17. Nicolaou, a 26-year-old national guardsman, was found dead under the Alassa bridge near Limassol in September 2005. His death was initially ruled a suicide but subsequent investigations revealed he had been strangled, leading to renewed scrutiny of the original police investigation and forensic examination. The five defendants have previously pleaded not guilty. Those facing private prosecution are forensic pathologist Panicos Stavrianos, former Limassol police director Andreas Iatropoulos, former head of Limassol CID Nikos Sofokleous, former deputy police chief Christakis Nathanael and former head of the Platres police station complex Christakis Kapiliotis.