Five officials charged in Nikolaou case as family pursues justice

Five people are set to appear before the Limassol District Court on Tuesday morning as the long-running case over the death of 26-year-old soldier Thanasis Nikolaou moves into a new phase, nearly two decades after he was found dead under the Alassa bridge in 2005.

The private criminal prosecution, filed by Nikolaou’s family, targets a state coroner and four former police officers. Together, they face 39 charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, neglect of duty, issuing a false certificate, perjury, providing false information, destroying evidence, and interfering with judicial proceedings.

Most of the charges center on forensic pathologist Panikos Stavrianos, the doctor who originally ruled Nikolaou’s death a suicide. That finding stood for years, until May 10, 2024, when the third death inquiry overturned it and concluded the young soldier was killed. That decision reignited public pressure and reopened long-standing questions about how the case was handled.

Sources told CNA that defense lawyers requested access to the case’s witness material on December 3, but it’s unlikely those documents will be handed over today. The court is expected to seek clarifications from the family’s legal team first.

The same sources say the defense is preparing to raise several pre-trial objections, challenging parts of the procedure and potentially slowing down how quickly the case can move forward.