All sorts of things are going on in the morgues of public hospitals, with allegations of networks involving funeral homes, doctors, police officers, and lawyers, as reported by Solonas Melas, spokesperson for licensed funeral homes, on the Alpha Kalimera show. In connection with the case of the “missing” remains of a British citizen from the morgue of Nicosia General Hospital, Mr. Melas spoke of “illegal practices” on the part of the police, who, following a relevant tender, allow the transport of bodies by private individuals who do not possess Class A vehicles.
“They approached me, and I asked them a few questions. There’s a deceased person in a ravine. Who’s going to bring him up? The funeral home, the police, the fire department? Tell us so we know. The requirements they’re asking for are so confusing you can’t make heads or tails of them. To transport a deceased person, you need a Class A license. Because you’re leaving the funeral home, which requires special equipment. It’s a mess. So if someone gets a van tomorrow, they’re entitled to transport bodies for the police. They’ve ruled out funeral homes, and the police have said they won’t accept quotes from funeral homes. I have to act as a private citizen and register the vehicle in my name to do this job.”
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Mr. Melas described the transport of the deceased as “the least of it” and claimed that doctors issue death certificates for the deceased whom “they’ve never even seen in person.”
“There are one or two funeral homes that tell them: ‘Why bother with an autopsy? Let me take care of it for you.’ They go to a doctor with 100–200 euros, and the doctor issues a death certificate. A written complaint has been filed with the police regarding this matter. After all, there’s a joke going around in England: “Want to kill your husband? Go to Cyprus, go to a funeral home, and they’ll give you a death certificate.”
According to the spokesperson for licensed funeral homes, he suggested to the police that, in order to issue a death certificate, a brief report from the deceased’s attending physician be required stating “how long they’ve been treating him, when they last saw them, and other details.”
“The police say that if there’s a death certificate, they don’t care about anything beyond that. Well, what if he was killed? What if it’s murder? It’s incomprehensible. We even have problems with families over this issue. A relative comes and asks us to issue a fake death certificate. Since I worked in the public sector—36 years at the morgue— I know the procedures. If the person has health insurance, what will they tell me afterward? Because the insurance company gives you a form and tells you to go to the doctor to have it filled out, and there are a thousand and two things on it. When was the last time you saw him, what medication was he taking, etc. And you say, “I requested a death certificate to avoid an autopsy—what happens now?” There are things the family doesn’t know at that moment, and I’m obligated to advise them and tell them not to try to get a death certificate—not from an acquaintance, nor from anyone else. There was a family that argued with me because they wanted a death certificate, and I told them I couldn’t arrange something like that. “Am I some kind of factory that you want me to do this?” And they were yelling, telling me they’d go somewhere else, and so on. The son who had been yelling called me and apologized. I asked him, “Why?” “My father was found with 180,000 euros in insurance money. Whereas if they’d used a fake death certificate, that wouldn’t have happened.”
Mr. Melas referred to funeral homes that falsify dates of death on the relevant certificates in order to give authorized relatives of the deceased “to take care of their affairs” until the funeral takes place.
“To transfer everything to themselves using a power of attorney that is in effect, even though it is normally invalid. The Minister of Justice and the Chief of Police must intervene to put an end to these practices. The doctor issuing the certificate must take a brief medical history.”
He claimed that a specific case of “blatant illegality” was reported in writing to the authorities, “but nothing is being done,” and spoke of police officers who “benefit” from issuing a death certificate to avoid the hassle of a postmortem examination.
“We had a case where a law firm notified us; it involved a foreign national. When we contacted his personal physician, he said, ‘I haven’t seen him in two years; I can’t issue a death certificate.’ We notified the police, saying a postmortem examination must be performed because a death certificate cannot be obtained. What did the police do? They told us to contact a certain office to arrange for a death certificate. I obtained a photocopy. The doctor was in Paphos, while the deceased resided in Limassol. I found the doctor’s name in the registry and tracked him down. These are things you can’t even imagine.”
Mr. Melas referred to an unprecedented case of police interference involving a person who had arrived in Cyprus from abroad and died in Larnaca “because he was too bothered” to deal with the autopsy process.
“We spoke with his daughter and told her that a death certificate could not be issued because no doctor in Cyprus had ever examined him. Autopsies are common abroad. Do you know what the police officer did? He sent an email to his daughter telling her to contact a specific funeral home to arrange for a certificate—from the police email account—and the deceased’s daughter forwarded it to me. We have it. We filed a complaint with the Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints Against the Police, and an officer came to my office. A police officer was assigned as the investigating officer and came to see me. I showed him the email. He said to me, “But is he an idiot? I don’t know what happened—it’s been two years.”
READ ALSO: Chaos over the missing body: They were searching for it, but it was right under their noses
Marina Christodoulidou, an officer with the Police Headquarters Press Office, responded to the allegations made by the Representative of Licensed Funeral Homes, clarifying that, regarding the transfer tothe Police Force conducted a relevant tender, as required by procedure.
“The bids were evaluated, and contracts were awarded in each district for the procurement of these specific services. There were specifications.”
Regarding the complaint against a police officer who allegedly sent an email to the daughter of a deceased person to prevent her father’s body from undergoing an autopsy, Ms. Christodoulidou noted that “if there are any complaints or evidence of possible criminal offenses, they should be brought before the police for investigation.”
“If a complaint is filed with ADIPA, it will be investigated, and the file with the results will be sent to us.”
SEE ALSO: The remains of the British man who “went missing” at the Nicosia General Hospital morgue are being repatriated
Dimitris Konstantinou, Press Officer for the Ministry of Health, explained that issues concerning morgues and the Medical Examiner’s Office that lead to errors are already being addressed by the Ministry, and legislation is being proposed to modernize the system.
“We must provide and find solutions. We need to examine these issues carefully. We do not want such incidents to happen again.”
READ ALSO: “A huge commotion for no reason”: What the Ministry of Health says about the missing body
