Diana Constantinides on politics, law and a childhood tragedy

Ayia Napa, Cyprus. Diana Constantinides, a newly elected MP with Fidias Panayiotou’s Direct Democracy party, has returned to Cyprus after a decade working as a barrister in London.

She was elected in May and is expected to use Greek as her working language during her parliamentary term, after previously practising law in Paralimni and specialising in human rights and international criminal law in London.

Legal and political career

Constantinides works with 33 Bedford Row in London. She said English has been her working language for the past 10 years.

She grew up in Ayia Napa and began her legal career in Paralimni. She said her entry into politics had been part of a personal plan she made with her husband before their marriage in 2016.

“We made this vision board, where you sit down and write ‘What is it that you want?’, ‘What do you want to achieve in your life?’,” she said. “On an individual basis, but also as a union together.”

Constantinides said she had included entering politics on the board, with 2026 listed as the intended year.

Family background

Her husband is a Portuguese entrepreneur who grew up in Mozambique and experienced the country’s civil war as a child. His latest venture is a sports app called Actxion.

Constantinides said she admired the way he had dealt with that trauma.

Mother’s murder

Constantinides’ mother, Christine Constantinides, was raped and murdered in 1993 by Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, known as Al Capone.

Christine Constantinides, a Swedish housewife, was found months later at the Kotsiatis landfill. By that time, Kitas had also murdered Romanian dancer Oxana Lisna.

Kitas remains in prison serving two life sentences. The case is among the most widely known in Cyprus legal history and formed part of the syllabus when Constantinides was studying law, although she said she was exempted from studying it.

Constantinides was five years old when her mother was murdered. She turned 38 last month.