Witnesses start talking in Cyprus’ slain soldier cover-up

New reports on the fast-unraveling of one of Cyprus’ cold cases, the homicide of a soldier in 2005 wrongly ruled suicide, suggest people who served in the army camp with the victim are now opening up as to why a murder seventeen years ago was kept under wraps.

Following an independent probe into the death of Thanasis Nicolaou, a 26-year-old Cypriot-Australian conscript who was found dead under a bridge in Alassa in 2005, leaked reports recently suggested that authorities have names of persons of interest and likely suspects who were never questioned by police.

Nicolaou’s death was officially ruled a suicide but evidence kept away from the public and gathered over a long campaign by the victim’s family have shown the soldier had been strangled to death.

The victim’s mother has been demanding that a full and unredacted report be handed over to the family, a request denied by Attorney General George Savvides who is also the state’s chief prosecutor.

Andriana Nicolaou shocked the public this week when she said she knew all along the names of possible suspects implicated in the death of her son, but she stopped short of saying whether she believed those individuals had murdered her son or simply they knew what had happened. Probe findings have reportedly shown how investigators failed or avoided to look into evidence at the time.

But according to AlphaNewsLive, persons who served in the army with the victim have been opening up about the case.

AlphaNewsLive on Thursday said the individuals, who wished to remain anonymous, started sharing information with important details about Nicolaou’s death, including “specific names of people who were allegedly implicated in the case.”

“They are ready to answer the big why question regarding the cover-up of what they call a heinous crime,” ANL reported.

But Thanasis’ mother is not fully convinced of the reliability of police investigators who have been assigned to gather more evidence, demanding instead that criminal investigator Savvas Matsas be reinstated after he was fired by the attorney general.

She has so far accused Savvides and the police of not only failing to investigate the murder of her son but also obstructing justice and keeping the truth from coming out.

Matsas, an outspoken critic who publicly commented on the botched investigation, also fell out of favor with Savvides, who cited a need for confidentiality but added the other member of the independent committee would continue to have a role as police took over the cold case.

The family has called on members of the public to show support and join them on Saturday outside the Legal Department in Nicosia to demand the reinstatement of Matsas as well as the handover of the full and unredacted report to the family.

Recently the mother had suggested there could be political motives behind the botched investigation of her son's murder.