The government has named Thanasis Athanasiou, a legal expert, and Lambros Pappas, a retired Hellenic Police Lieutenant General who formerly headed Greece’s Homicide Department, as independent investigators in the death of Thanasis Nicolaou.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis announced the appointments after a cabinet meeting. The investigators will examine the case for the past 19 years, from 2005 to 2024.
“The terms of reference are to investigate whether specific actions should have been taken from 2005 until today, which have not been undertaken,” Hartsiotis said.
Responding to questions about the investigation’s scope, the Minister stressed, “Everything will be investigated.”
“After 19 long years,” he added, “it is imperative that we leave no stone unturned to uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. This is a tragic and sensitive case that needs to be concluded in the best possible way to provide closure for Thanasis Nicolaou and his family.”
Thanasis’ body was found under a bridge in Alassa in 2005 and his death was deemed by the army and police as a suicide. But after his remains were exhumed in 2020 over suspicions of foul play, further autopsies showed he had been beaten and strangled.
In the latest development, on May 10, 2024, a judge ruled that the cause of death was murder by strangulation.
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