THE WIDOW of Tassos Papadopoulos broke down after a meeting with senior police as investigators searched the family’s estate on the outskirts of Nicosia as part of the ongoing investigation into the theft of former president’s remains.
Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou met Papadopoulos’ family whom he briefed on the course of the investigation.
Papadopoulos’ widow Fotini, started to read a prepared statement after the meeting but was overcome with emotion. “We are experiencing a crime that has shocked us,” she said.
Her son Nicolas, seeing that she could not continue, read the statement himself.
He said the family was in continuous contact with the authorities trying to contribute to the investigation and urged for an end to the speculation.
“It is with sorrow that we hear and read all this speculation and rumours. We hope that more respect will be shown and that everyone will realise the extent of this sacrilegious act,” Papadopoulos said.
He urged the public to step forward with any information they may have regarding the case.
Dozens of officers scoured the olive groves and orchards of the Papadopoulos’ Strakka estate in the village of Deftera yesterday, in search of Papadopoulos’ body, stolen on December 11 from his grave at the local cemetery.
Papageorgiou stressed that there had not been any specific information that the stolen body had been hidden at Strakka and nothing was found.
“It was among our priorities to search the whole area to rule out the possibility of the body being hidden nearby,” Papageorgiou said. “After our contacts with the family today we searched the whole area.”
The chief conceded that many days had passed since the gruesome act that shocked Cyprus but was quick to add that such cases were not easy to resolve.
Commenting on the fact that the perpetrators have not made any move so far, Papageorgiou said “based on the replies we had from Interpol, it is usual for the perpetrators to surface after some time. We do not rule the possibility of the perpetrators making a move.” The family has already rejected reports that a ransom demand had been made.
Authorities have sought the help of foreign countries while the British bases on the island have contributed special software to assist in processing the information collected.
Papageorgiou said they have received specific suggestions from various countries but declined to discuss them.
“From the beginning when the body of the former president was stolen we investigated and continue to investigate every piece of information and any motive possibly hiding behind this act,” Papageorgiou said.
A day before the anniversary of his death, the corpse was removed from its casket overnight in torrential rain after the culprits shifted a 250-kg granite slab and dug through several feet of earth.
It was a well-organised act that police believe was executed by a group of people who left few clues behind.
