Markides promises to meet Ropas’ wife

By Elias Hazou

ATTORNEY-general Alecos Markides has promised to meet with the wife of a convicted felon who claims she has new evidence clearing her husband of all charges.

Mary Christodoulou has been campaigning over the past year for the release of her husband Ierotheos Christodoulou, alias Ropas. She has accused police of negligence in investigations, which led to Ropas’ conviction some three years ago.

Ropas was charged of masterminding and taking part in the 1998 murder of Marios Panayides, 29, in Limassol. His accomplices were found to be Nicos Nicolaou and Ara Haritourian, also found guilty and currently serving prison sentences. Christodoulou insists her husband was asleep at home at the time of the murder.

Ropas’ appeal to a supreme court was subsequently turned down. Now, in the event new evidence suggests he is not guilty, a presidential pardon is the only way he gets out of jail. The recommendation for a pardon would come from the Attorney-general, who last week said he would be reviewing any new evidence presented to him.

Some of the new evidence Christodoulou is citing includes a letter by Haritourian in which he claimed he shot the victim and that Ropas was innocent. In the same letter, Haritourian pointed out the murder weapon, later found, and the hoods he and his accomplices wore on the night of September 16, 1998; the hoods were never recovered.

Ropas wife, who has lately taken her campaign on TV screens, has gone on a hunger strike, and over the past week has taken to camping outside the Presidential Palace, waiting to meet with the President. Reports suggested yesterday that President Glafcos Clerides referred her to the Attorney- general.

For his part, Markides has pledged to meet with Christodoulou; although last week the Attorney-general and other officials levelled criticism at Christodoulou, saying she was employing ” populist tactics”by overly using media coverage. Reports yesterday suggested the Attorney-general would review Ropas’ case sometime after 17 December.

Meanwhile Justice Minister Nicos Koshis yesterday turned down Christodoulou’s request that a committee of inquiry be set up on her husband’s case, saying that such committees could not be appointed for each individual convict.

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