The lawyer for the family of a soldier who was strangled to death in 2005 during his compulsory military service has given the state attorney general ten days to submit an independent report or risk prosecution.
A report into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou, a 26-year-old conscript who was found dead under a bridge in Alassa on September 29, 2005, is still in the hands of Attorneys General George Savvides, who had appointed independent investigators to investigate the suicide case after the soldier’s mother insisted from the start that her son not kill himself.
Last month, local media confirmed that the latest findings vindicated Andriana Nicolaou, the mother of Thanasis who previously took her case to an international tribunal and won after it was determined that the state had not not properly investigate the death.
Report names persons of interest as possible suspects
The death was initially ruled a suicide, but years later it turned out to be foul playwith media leaks suggesting the report named three police officers who botched the investigation and three other persons of interest who may have been possible suspects but were never interviewed.
Cypriot lawyer Loukis Loukaides, a former ECHR judge and high-ranking lawyer who represents the Nicolaou family, hinted at prosecution if prosecutors did not prosecute the perpetrators.
Loukaides also asked for the findings of the investigation to be released to him or the mother, with local media saying the lawyer was puzzled as to why the report has not yet been shared with the family. of the victim.
“Do you expect that, if the report is investigated, the lady in question will admit that her claims were false? Loukaides wondered
“Neither I nor the victim’s mother received a copy of the report from the investigators, who probed the flawed investigation,” Loukaides said, referring to a previous investigation criticized by the European Court of Human Rights. .
“This omission goes against the jurisprudence of the said court,” the lawyer said.
According to Philenews, Loukaides wrote a total of three letters to Savvides, who had previously blocked other attempts by the mother to obtain more evidence in the case.
“Incidentally, I must point out that your office staff, acting as representatives of the Attorney General, objected and argued against our application of September 2, 2016, with which we seek an order on the very ground that there was had oversights and insufficient efforts. Loukaides reportedly said in his letter.
“Do you expect if the report is investigated that the lady in question will admit that her claims were false?” wondered Loukaides.
The mother called for her son’s killers to be brought to justice, in addition to those responsible for covering up the crime or botching the investigation.
Local media said the state medical examiner who said Thanasis jumped off a large bridge was also under scrutiny, after the first-day mother continued to provide evidence that her son had no external injuries.
Loukaides has in the past criticized the judicial system of the Republic of Cyprus, going so far as to call for the retraining of judges, magistrates and prosecutors.