Thanasis Nikolaou’s mother, Andriana Nikolaou, did not ultimately testify today, following a request by the prosecution to allow her time to complete her written testimony as part of the private criminal proceedings against five defendants. The court adjourned the hearing while accepting the documents requested by the defense.
Today’s proceedings began with the consideration of the defense’s motion to submit case documents from the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, the Commander of the National Guard, the Chief of Police, the Attorney General, and the court clerk.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
On behalf of the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard, a major from the Judicial Department submitted documents related to Thanasis Nikolaou’s military service, the entire content of the investigations conducted into his death, including all witness testimony and statements taken during the investigations.
A spokesperson for the Chief of Police stated that all documents, statements, and other materials pertaining to the investigation into the death of Thanasis Nikolaou have been handed over to the Attorney General, whose representative was asked to provide the negatives of all photographs related to the case, reports, correspondence, and all witness statements or other evidence that was collected.
The Attorney General’s representative stated that all the material has been handed over to the prosecution and that there are no remaining documents, a claim that the defense disputed. The court requested that the matter be clarified at the next hearing by a representative of the Legal Service, who will be in a position to make a sworn statement.
As for the court clerk, after a brief recess, all documents pertaining to the three preliminary inquest hearings in the case were located and submitted.
In response to the request to postpone Andriana Nikolaou’s testimony, the defense raised an objection, citing an unjustified delay that causes a hindrance to the proceedings and inconvenience to the defendants, and called on the court to protect their rights.
The prosecution, for its part, noted that any delay to date is attributable to the defense itself, through the process of pretrial objections, while pointing out that it had informed the opposing counsel of the request for a postponement, with no objection apparent.
The court canceled all previously scheduled hearing dates and set a new date for the proceedings to resume on November 17 at 10:30 a.m.
It should be noted that the indictment includes medical examiner Panikos Stavrianos, former Limassol Police Director Andreas Iatrou, former head of the Limassol Criminal Investigation Department Nikos Sophocleous, former head of Rural Police Christakis Nathanail, and former head of the Platres police station complex, Christakis Kapiliotis.
Source: CNA
