Andriana Nikolaou, the mother fighting for 18 years to find the killers of her son Thanasis, a former Melbourne resident and Cypriot soldier, was in Melbourne recently for a few days.
Shortly after her return to Cyprus, Ms Nicolaou made a personal Facebook post, that rattled the community.
The photos are accompanied by pictures of her son who was found murdered in Limassol back in 2005.
Over the past 18 years Thanasi Nicolaou’s mother has not given up, challenging the establishment in Cyprus, managing to bring to light the truth about her son’s murder, which some had christened a “suicide”.
“As long as I live, I will fight to find the killers and those who covered them up,” she told Neos Kosmos shortly before leaving Melbourne for Cyprus.
Starting her Facebook post with a poem/prayer, Andriana said:
“‘My son, where is the beauty of thy form; I bring a guide to the unjustly slain; I raise thee, as I see thee, thy resurrection from the dead.”
They have condemned thee, my son, slandered thee, and condemned thee to a martyr’s death by beating and strangling, and thy murderers still walk free and unpunished among us!’
“This is the Cyprus you were in a hurry to come to, my dear child! A jungle filled with crooks, savages and criminals who rule it and the wrong people all the time!
“I was telling you, darling, that when you go to Cyprus you’ll have an army, and you answered me: “Let me go to Cyprus and do 50 years in the army!
“Not only 50, but the Army officers with their dealers loved you so much that they sacrificed you forever, and you became the Controversial Point for the competent Secretaries and Pharisaic hypocrites of this Country that you loved more than your birthplace, Australia. And in return they killed you and trampled on your rights to the fullest.”
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
The Cyprus Legal Service has decided to respond positively to the request of the family’s new lawyer to be given the testimonial material collected by the police, in order to study the possibility of proceeding with a private prosecution.
Thanasis’ family appointed lawyer Christos Triantafyllidis, who had recently brought a similar prosecution on behalf of the two managers of the Central Prison, to handle the matter of filing a private prosecution.
Mr Triantafyllidis proceeded immediately and in a letter to the General and Assistant General Prosecutor, he requested all the material collected by the police during their recent investigations into the case be studied along with the findings and conclusions of the two criminal investigators Savvas Matsas and Antonis Alexopoulos.
The two criminal investigators had concluded that there are responsibilities, not in relation to the death of the then 26-year-old Thanasis, but for the way the case was investigated, by four persons.
Following that investigation, the Legal Department instructed police investigators this time to seek testimony that pointed to any culprits in Thanasis’ death.
However, nothing new came to light, and as a result the investigations were closed, although several issues were cleared up which had remained unresolved for 17 years.
Such as the people to whom the DNA found on his clothes belonged, as well as the origin of the sand that was in Thanasis’ mouth when he was found dead under the bridge of Alassa.
At the request of Thanasis Nikolaos’ family, the Legal Service was informed that no new evidence of possible culprits had emerged and the case was closed. However, the question of the responsibilities attributed in the Matsa-Alexopoulos Conclusion remained open.
The family decided to move on their own, which is why recently, in a letter, lawyer Christos Triantaphyllides asked for the statements recently taken by the four-member investigative team of the Police.
The Legal Service responded positively and the file with the statements will soon be given to the family or their lawyer.
Thanasis’ mother, who was in Australia, returned to Cyprus on Thursday.
The family already has a pending lawsuit against the Republic of Cyprus in the Nicosia District Court for damages in relation to incomplete investigation and violation of human rights.
