A Cyprus court has scheduled January 2026 for the hearing of a case involving 11 defendants following the 2019 suicide of 15-year-old Stylianos that shocked the island nation.
District Court Judge Pavlos Agapitos on Thursday set January 20, 2026, as the start date for the trial, with additional hearings scheduled for January 22 and 27, according to court proceedings.
The judge made it clear there would be no more postponements, noting that four years have passed since the case was filed with the Nicosia District Court.
Judge Agapitos also scheduled a January 13 preliminary hearing for both prosecution and defence to ensure no pre-trial issues would cause further delays. He instructed both sides to agree on facts before the first hearing to save valuable court time.
Prosecutor Elena Konstantinou stated she was ready to call the first prosecution witness even on Thursday, identified as one of the independent criminal investigators in the case.
The defence lawyer for the first defendant, Stylianos’ father, requested more time to study the case, explaining he had recently taken over after the previous lawyer’s death. Attorney Marios Spyrou, representing three of the 11 defendants, also noted issues with witness material remained unresolved.
The court heard that the evidence comprises 12 box files of material.
Stylianos’ father is the central figure in the case. Testimonies during investigations into the teenager’s suicide indicated the father, who operated a livestock unit in Kotsiatis, allegedly inflicted physical violence against both the victim and his wife.
The charge sheet contains 218 charges, with the first section concerning the couple—the 55-year-old father and 48-year-old mother of the deceased child.
The father faces charges related to physical and psychological abuse, including common assault and subjecting a person to cruel, inhuman treatment.
The mother faces charges for failing to report instances of violence. According to the 2000 Domestic Violence Law, “anyone who fails to report a case of violence against a minor or person with serious mental or psychological deficiencies that comes to their knowledge commits an offence and, upon conviction, is liable to imprisonment up to two years or a fine up to one thousand pounds or both”.
The other nine defendants are Social Welfare Services officials, including social workers and coordinators, charged with neglect of official duty. At least two of them have since retired, according to Phileleftheros sources.
The alleged offences occurred between 2008 and 2019.
No police officers appear in the current charge sheet, though a separate case has been filed against a police officer, Phileleftheros has learnt.
All defendants except one attended Thursday’s proceedings. Though the absence was considered justified, the judge issued an arrest warrant as a formality to ensure the absent person’s appearance at the next hearing.
One defendant was overheard saying before proceedings began, “We must prove we are not elephants”.
After the hearing, defendants and their lawyers discussed the case in the second-floor lobby of Nicosia Courts Building 4, where a police officer advised them to lower their voices.
The Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights, Maria Stylianou Lottides, investigated Stylianos’ death following a Cabinet decision on September 11, 2019. The investigation’s terms of reference involved identifying responsibilities “of all responsible parties in all services involved”.
The Commissioner’s findings, dated November 14, 2019, were published and forwarded to then-Attorney General Costas Clerides.
Subsequently, two independent criminal investigators, lawyers Modestos Pogiatzis and Andreas E. Andreou, were appointed to complete their criminal investigation within two months. The case was filed in 2021.
The Commissioner’s publicly available report details events concerning Stylianos, who from an early age exhibited psychological issues allegedly due to his father’s violent and oppressive behaviour.
Evidence presented to the Commissioner showed teachers had identified Stylianos’ problems early and taken measures. At one point, the child had expressed suicidal ideation.
The report identified failings by both police and Social Welfare Services. Regarding the Cyprus Police, the report notes “disciplinary offences from omissions and violations of Police Regulations,” including “failure to assess risk for domestic violence, both physical against the mother and psychological against the children”.
Concerning Social Welfare Services, the report states, “The Social Welfare Services bear the greatest share of responsibility… There is an absence of risk assessment for both physical and psychological violence, but also a failure of proper coordination both during the early stages of family monitoring and later, violating almost all Administrative Provisions and relevant Manuals”.
