Five plead not guilty in private prosecution brought by Thanasis Nicolaou’s family

Limassol, Cyprus. Five defendants in a private criminal prosecution brought by Thanasis Nicolaou’s family pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after a court rejected earlier and new pre-trial objections.

Defendants and charges

The defendants are forensic doctor Panicos Stavrianos, former Limassol police head Andreas Iatropoulos, former Limassol CID head Nicos Sophocleous, former rural police chief Christakis Nathanael and former Platres police head Christakis Kapiliotis.

The charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice, dereliction of duty, issuing a false certificate by a public official, perjury, providing false information, destruction of evidence and interference in judicial proceedings.

Pre-trial objections

The court first announced that it had rejected objections raised in earlier proceedings. Kapiliotis, who is not represented by a lawyer, then challenged the Limassol district court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the alleged conduct involved possible disciplinary rather than criminal offences.

Kapiliotis read a written statement and submitted a USB containing two televised interviews with Attorney General George Savvides. He said the interviews supported his argument that the Legal Service had not pursued criminal prosecutions against the forensic doctor and four former police officers.

Defence lawyers also argued that the court had been misled because, when filing the indictment, the prosecuting authority had not submitted a letter from the Attorney General to the family’s lawyer concerning the decision not to pursue criminal prosecution. After a break, the court rejected the new objections.

Hearing dates and background

The court scheduled the hearing to begin on November 10, with further trial dates set for November 11, 12, 13, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27.

Nicolaou was found dead in 2005. His death was initially ruled a suicide, but subsequent investigations found that he had been strangled, prompting renewed scrutiny of the original police investigation and forensic examination.