Supreme Court Rejects Re-Trial Bid by Convicted Murderer Theodoros Theofanous

Nicosia, Cyprus. The supreme court on Thursday turned down an application for a re-trial submitted by Theodoros (Doros) Theofanous, who is serving a life sentence. The attorney-general’s office said it was the first case the court had examined since a new law came into force allowing cases to be reopened when new evidence emerges.

Background of the conviction

Theofanous, known by the alias ‘the hairdresser’, was found guilty in October 2012 of the premeditated murder, committed in 2011, of his pregnant partner Yulia Oporok. He was also convicted of the manslaughter of her three-year-old daughter. The supreme court upheld the conviction in April 2015.

Grounds for the application

Theofanous later turned to the supreme court seeking a re-trial, saying new facts had surfaced that cast doubt on the original verdict. He pointed to a prosecution witness from the first trial who, in June 2020, withdrew an earlier sworn statement. According to Theofanous, that person now says the testimony given in court was untrue and that he was not at the crime scene.

He also relied on accounts from third parties who claimed that another prosecution witness, Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, a convicted rapist and murderer, had apparently ‘admitted’ that Theofanous was not the perpetrator.

His lawyers argued that these points were enough to undermine the evidence on which the conviction was based. Theofanous therefore requested a new trial or, given the time he has already spent in prison, a full acquittal.

The court’s ruling

In its judgment, the court found that Theofanous had not put forward any new material facts justifying a re-trial. It stated that witnesses retracting or altering their testimony do not qualify as such facts.