Thanasis Nicolaou’s remains transferred to monastery ossuary
The remains of conscript Thanasis Nicolaou, who was murdered in 2005, have been placed in an ossuary at a Limassol monastery.
His mother, Andriana Nicolaou, who is currently in Jerusalem, announced the news on social media.
“With the blessing of our Metropolis, the bones of the late Thanasis now rest in a monastery in Cyprus, and I in a monastery in Jerusalem,” she wrote.
The remains were handed over to the family on Friday following a court order. They were delivered by the Limassol police director.
Nicolaou had originally been buried in the cemetery of Ayia Phyla, a suburb of Limassol. His body was exhumed in 2020 as part of renewed investigations into his death.
On April 9, after a tense courtroom exchange between Andriana Nicolaou and lawyers representing former state pathologist Panicos Stavrianos – who had initially ruled Nicolaou’s death a suicide – the judge ruled that no issues remained unresolved. He instructed the Limassol police director to return the remains to Andriana Nicolaou within seven days.