Pathologist wants ‘truth to come out’ after guardsman ruling

State pathologist Panicos Stavrianos, who back in 2005 had ruled national guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou’s death a suicide, has submitted a request to the Supreme Court for permission to file an application to nullify the coroner’s report issued on May 10, which concluded that the cause of death was strangulation.

Stavrianos’ lawyer Andriana Klaidi told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that her client has consistently backed up his findings over the past 19 years, which indicate that the guardsman’s death was “due to a voluntary fall from a height.”

“He simply wants the truth to come out,” Klaidi said. “That is the purpose of his request. He seeks permission to file a formal application to nullify the coroner’s report issued on May 10.”

Klaidi confirmed that the request for permission to file the application hearing took place last week, adding that Stavrianos “was one of the three state forensic pathologists appointed by a decree of the Limassol coroner in 2021 to participate in the post-mortem examination of the bones after the exhumation.”

Nicolaou’s mother Andriana later called Stavrianos’ request “unacceptable and shameless” in a post on Facebook.

“Despite the attorney general’s and the police’s significant responsibilities in covering up my child’s murder for 19 years, Stavrianos has the audacity to request the annulment of the report to absolve all those involved in the criminal cover-up,” the post said.

“What evidence is he talking about? The false findings he decided on within ten minutes at the scene, all documented in the records of the first and second inquests?”

Andriana then pointed out that Cyprus was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for inadequate investigation, primarily due to Stavrianos.

“Instead of feeling ashamed and apologising, he has the nerve to ask for more.”

In the same post, she then questioned Stavrianos’ right to request the annulment, noting that he was not an involved party.

“We will stand against them again and again. Despite their efforts to cover up their criminal and deliberate mistakes, the truth has now been scientifically proven.

“Shame on all of you who covered up the obvious murder of my unfortunate child, and on all of you who grant immunity to criminals, leaving crimes unpunished,” Andriana’s post concluded.