{"id":11338,"date":"2024-05-10T18:00:44","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338"},"modified":"2024-05-10T18:00:44","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T15:00:44","slug":"national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338","title":{"rendered":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The death of national guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou in 2005\u00a0 was a result of strangulation and not suicide, a judge ruled on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Judge Doria Varoshiotou announced her ruling in the Nicolaou inquiry to a packed courtroom as a number of demonstrators with banners<\/strong> gathered outside Limassol\u2019s district court.
\nAs she issued her verdict, the judge\u2019s voice was shaky and she appeared emotional. The people in the courtroom broke out in applause and tears, pointing at state prosecutors and yelling: \u201cCorrupt\u201d.
\nThanasis\u2019 family members were in tears hugging each other. \u201cThey killed my son,\u201d the national guardsman\u2019s mother Andriana Nicolaou said. \u201cLight has won against the darkness<\/strong>\u201d
\nSpeaking outside the court. Andriana said justice would be visited on the people who killed her son.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank god for giving me the strength these years through all my sickness,\u201d she added as she thanked the judge, the witnesses and the pathologists that helped prove it was not a suicide and did not care if people called her crazy all these years.
\n\u201cFor two decades we fought to prove true everyone did everything to cover up the truth,\u201d she said.
\nPeople travelled from across the country to attend the hearing and to support the Nicolaou family, particularly Andriana, who has been at the forefront of the fight for justice<\/strong> over the past 19 years.
\nThanasis Nicolaou was found dead under Alassa bridge in September 2005<\/strong>. He was 26. Forensic pathologist Panicos Stavrianos ruled it was a suicide, however the family has long-argued it was a murder coverup.
\nJudge Varoshiotou confirmed their suspicions on Friday when she accepted that there had been violence and fracture of Thanasis\u2019 hyoid bone.
\nThis, she said was an indication of resistance. Had it occurred after death, the severity would be less. The argument that the injures he had could have appeared after death was not supported by the evidence, the judge said.
\n\u201cThe important element in my opinion was that there was an anomaly,\u201d she said, referring to the hyoid injuries.<\/strong>
\nThe judge said the evidence found by Greek forensic pathologist Demetra Karayianni was \u201cirrefutable\u201d.<\/strong>
\nThe court heard that Thanasis had bitten his tongue. Karayianni had said this is what happens during strangulation. A victim reflexively tightens their teeth to resist.
\n\u201cI accept Karayiannis\u2019 statement on this,\u201d the judge said in her decision.
\nShe said the view of another Greek specialist Emmanuel Agapitou \u201cis not supported.\u201d
\nAgapitou had suggested this could happen from a car accident but the judge said there was no evidence that Thanasis was a victim of a car accident
\n\u201cIt is for this reason that Karayianni believes the person who strangled him is left-handed,\u201d the judge said.
\nJudge Varoshiotou also said in her opinion the letter the attorney-general sent to Agapitos after receiving his findings was important.
\n\u201cIt seems at first glance that they raise scientific questions. But the way the questions are formulated, it appears as if they are seeking to reject Karayianni\u2019s findings,\u201d she said.
\nThis was the third inquiry into the national guardsman\u2019s death.
\n\u201cToday\u2019s decision will not bring back my son or the life I have lost,\u201d said Andriana. \u201cBut the crime was obvious from the start at the scene.\u00a0No one can fool a mother.\u201d
\nShe wasn\u2019t seeking anyone\u2019s resignation. It was a catharsis. \u201cNever back down when you are right. Keep insisting,\u201d she added.
\n\"court\"
\nDemonstrators outside the court (Photo: Christos Theodorides)
\nThe European Court of Human Rights<\/strong> has condemned Cyprus for its insufficient investigation into the case, calling it inadequate.
\nThanasis\u2019 car had been spotted at around 4pm the day he went missing. An ambulance was at the scene at 5.40pm.\u00a0A doctor passing by who was off duty saw a lot of parked cars, the court heard.
\nHe stopped, and noticed blood, that Thanasis was bruised and his mouth filled with sand. There was also sand in his hair and all over his body. He had no pulse.
\nAt 6.30pm stat pathologist Stavrianos arrived at the scene. \u00a0He immediately ruled out criminal act and called it a suicide, the court heard.
\nThe post-mortem report by Stavrianos was without a date and only submitted nine months later, the judge said. Thanasis\u2019 wristwatch was found behind his back and had been cut off. From his wallet, his credit card was missing and was never found. Neither was his mobile phone<\/strong>.
\nStavrianos ruled the injuries were due to a fall, suggesting the solider had jumped from the bridge.
\nIn the ensuing days after the body was found, family members would go to the scene<\/strong> to check things for themselves. They found blood some three metres away from where he was found. The family contacted Stavrianos and he told them to tell police.
\n\u201cThey told her the case was closed,<\/strong>\u201d the court heard.
\nAndriana then went to more senior police, including the deputy chief but they refused to help.
\n\u201cThey told her, that\u2019s why we have pathologists, so we don\u2019t have to run around.\u201d
\nAndriana was referred to another department, which sent officers to collect samples of the blood. Analysis showed it was human and was later confirmed to be that of Thanasis.
\nAn army investigation was then ordered and two reports were prepared which concluded that Thanasis had committed suicide. The case was ordered into the archive.
\nFormer investigator on the case Savvas Matsas had previously told court the case was filled with lies, omissions and that there is an ongoing conspiracy<\/strong>\u00a0seeking to cover up the case and call it a suicide.
\nMatsas was removed as investigator from the case by the attorney-general, who argued it was because he revealed details of his findings to the media, something he denied.
\n\u201cThe reason the AG excluded me from this investigation\u2026 is because they understood I wouldn\u2019t do whatever they want.
\nAt the\u00a0start of the third inquest, last October, the two sides had decided to continue the process from where it had stopped, that is, on the basis of the new information brought to light following exhumation and examination<\/strong> of Nicolaou\u2019s bones in 2020, which led to the conclusion that\u00a0his death was due to a criminal act and not a suicide.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fact: The death of national guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou in 2005 was ruled as a result of strangulation and not suicide by a judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[155,6393,652,6960,4368,1107,4699,1664,325,1918,932,8099,4218,21,3,2692,3671,594,1840,7494,1610,508,2459,988,8903,654,250,3330,3895,115,1314,3866,1419,6242,582,9524,5319,7633,24,387,2952,3747,2073,183,2492,3331,5330,634,184,4620,2065,1812,7967,1827,3915,6377,934,9523,1358,656,8731,134,6305],"class_list":["post-11338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-accident","tag-analysis","tag-army","tag-banners","tag-bridge","tag-car","tag-car-accident","tag-cars","tag-check","tag-conspiracy","tag-court","tag-credit","tag-credit-card","tag-crime","tag-cyprus","tag-death","tag-demonstrators","tag-doctor","tag-european-court","tag-european-court-of-human-rights","tag-evidence","tag-exhumation","tag-family","tag-fight","tag-follow","tag-forensic","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-hearing","tag-human-rights","tag-injuries","tag-inquest","tag-investigation","tag-judge","tag-justice","tag-justice-fight","tag-letter","tag-lies","tag-limassol","tag-lost","tag-media","tag-missing","tag-mobile-phone","tag-murder","tag-national-guardsman","tag-news","tag-officers","tag-opinion","tag-police","tag-report","tag-resignation","tag-rights","tag-state","tag-statement","tag-strangulation","tag-strength","tag-suicide","tag-suicide-ruling","tag-support","tag-thanasis-nicolaou","tag-truth","tag-violence","tag-who"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nNational guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"strangulation. strangulation, suicide ruling, justice fight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"strangulation. strangulation, suicide ruling, justice fight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ch.jfdi.cc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-10T15:00:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cyprus Mail\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"headline\":\"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-10T15:00:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338\"},\"wordCount\":1038,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"accident\",\"analysis\",\"army\",\"banners\",\"bridge\",\"car\",\"car accident\",\"cars\",\"check\",\"conspiracy\",\"court\",\"credit\",\"credit card\",\"Crime\",\"Cyprus\",\"death\",\"demonstrators\",\"doctor\",\"European court\",\"European Court of Human Rights\",\"evidence\",\"Exhumation\",\"family\",\"fight\",\"Follow\",\"forensic\",\"Google\",\"Google News\",\"hearing\",\"human rights\",\"injuries\",\"inquest\",\"investigation\",\"judge\",\"justice\",\"justice fight\",\"letter\",\"lies\",\"Limassol\",\"lost\",\"media\",\"missing\",\"mobile phone\",\"Murder\",\"national guardsman\",\"news\",\"officers\",\"Opinion\",\"Police\",\"report\",\"resignation\",\"rights\",\"state\",\"statement\",\"strangulation\",\"strength\",\"suicide\",\"suicide ruling\",\"support\",\"Thanasis Nicolaou\",\"truth\",\"violence\",\"WHO\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cyprus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338\",\"name\":\"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-10T15:00:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\"},\"description\":\"strangulation. strangulation, suicide ruling, justice fight\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?p=11338#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/\",\"name\":\"ch.jfdi.cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8\",\"name\":\"Cyprus Mail\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cyprus-mail.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ch.jfdi.cc\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)","description":"strangulation. strangulation, suicide ruling, justice fight","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)","og_description":"strangulation. strangulation, suicide ruling, justice fight","og_url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338","og_site_name":"ch.jfdi.cc","article_published_time":"2024-05-10T15:00:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cyprus Mail","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cyprus Mail","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338"},"author":{"name":"Cyprus Mail","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"headline":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)","datePublished":"2024-05-10T15:00:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338"},"wordCount":1038,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg","keywords":["accident","analysis","army","banners","bridge","car","car accident","cars","check","conspiracy","court","credit","credit card","Crime","Cyprus","death","demonstrators","doctor","European court","European Court of Human Rights","evidence","Exhumation","family","fight","Follow","forensic","Google","Google News","hearing","human rights","injuries","inquest","investigation","judge","justice","justice fight","letter","lies","Limassol","lost","media","missing","mobile phone","Murder","national guardsman","news","officers","Opinion","Police","report","resignation","rights","state","statement","strangulation","strength","suicide","suicide ruling","support","Thanasis Nicolaou","truth","violence","WHO"],"articleSection":["Cyprus"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338","name":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-10T15:00:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8"},"description":"strangulation. strangulation, suicide ruling, justice fight","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/national-guardsman-thanasis-nicolaou-was-strangled-judge-rules-update-4.jpg","width":1024,"height":768,"caption":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11338#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"National guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was strangled, judge rules (Update 4)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/","name":"ch.jfdi.cc","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/#\/schema\/person\/606e0fbe40ab1cad97176ec3e4e248f8","name":"Cyprus Mail","sameAs":["https:\/\/cyprus-mail.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}