The president of the Cypriot Bar Association, Christos Cleridis, was asked to comment on the decision to remove Mr. Matsa from the investigation of the case and whether the conclusion should be given to the lawyer and the family of Thanasis.
Mr Cleridis stated that the usual practice is that the findings of criminal investigators concern the investigating authorities and are not released to the public or to those involved. In this particular case, however, because after 17 years of struggle by the Thanasis family, we had a reversal of the data to date as created by the investigative authorities, since there had been a previous condemnation decision by Cyprus for the incomplete investigation in this case, while there were evidences that showed that there was a criminal act.
"I think purely from a humanitarian point of view the conclusion should be given to the family's lawyer as is. Because it has been argued that there are names and because there will be further investigation into the specific individuals, I believe that these matters could be dealt with in a friendly and ethical consultation between the family's lawyer and the necessary commitments could be given which are binding and are covered by the rules of ethics of lawyers not to give the opinion to third parties. I believe that not all ways have been exhausted. Precisely because names were erased, pages were removed, it created reactions, tensions, and it has created a disorientation from the essence of the matter, which does not help Justice."
As far as Mr. Matsa is concerned, the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General considered that because some statements were made by Mr. Matsa before and after the delivery of the report regarding its content without always revealing names or details that demonstrate who is involved in the murder. I believe that the issue could be resolved if they called Mr. Matsa to the offices of the Legal Service for a better consultation, a solution could be found between colleagues that would avoid these unnecessary tensions that distract from the main goal of bringing the suspects before the Cypriot courts.
Speaking on the program "Protoselido", the Police Spokesman, Christos Andreou, stated that yesterday the conclusion was received from the General Prosecutor and with relevant instructions, the investigation of the case is expected to begin immediately.
He noted that four members of the Police have been appointed, experienced investigators who have served for years in the provincial TAE together with the criminal investigator, Mr. Alexopoulos who will assist in the investigative work.
Already today there will be a meeting of the criminal investigator with the police investigators to start planning and taking statements of the case.
Asked to answer if, in the event that omissions or failures are found during the investigation, or fraud in the way the Police worked in the case at the time, if he can go to Court today and we have criminal charges, he said that of course he can be brought before a Court accordingly and by the testimony to be secured. These are criminal cases that need testimony that is acceptable to the Court and that documents exactly what any person has committed.
As regards the letter from the medical examiner Stavrianos to the Police and the Legal Service, who places responsibility on the management of the problem by the Police at the time, Mr. Andreou stated that a letter has been sent to the Police Complaints Authority, which makes various allegations without knows more information.