Court hears pre-trial objections in death of Thanasis Nicolaou case

Pre-trial objections raised by defence lawyers for the five people accused of covering up the murder of Thanasis Nicolaou were heard on Friday before the Limassol district court and will will be wrapped up on March 19.

The defendants — former state pathologist Panicos Stavrianos, former Limassol police chief Angelos Iatropolos, former Limassol police crime detection unit chief Nicos Sophocleous, former head of rural police Christakis Nathanael, and former head of the police station in the Limassol district village of Lania, Christakis Kapiliotis — once again appeared in court.

The Nicolaou family’s lawyer Savvas Matsas, who had announced on February 19 that he would withdraw in order to testify as a prosecution witness, told the court there was a second reason for his decision.

He presented a police note stating that he had received death threats and a warning that he might become the victim of a criminal act, without specifying whether the threats were related to the current case.

The defence objected to Matsas presenting this second reason, but the objection was overruled by the judge.

Defence lawyers also alleged that Matsas was lying.

The family’s new lawyer, Christos Clerides, argued that the five defendants should first have been formally charged and called to answer the charges before the court proceeded with hearing the pre-trial objections.

The court said it would not accept further delays and called on the defence to proceed with presenting its objections.

Almost 40 charges have been filed against the five, most of which against Stavrianos, and include charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, neglect of official duty, issuing a false certificate, perjury, destruction of evidence and interference with judicial proceedings.

The filing of the private case came after the legal service had announced in June that it intended to file no criminal charges with regard to the alleged coverup of Nicolaou’s.