FORMER honorary consul of Ireland Stephanos Stephanou will be buried today amid a host of unanswered questions surrounding his arrest, detention and death in the north last Thursday.
State pathologist Eleni Antoniou said on Sunday that her post mortem showed that Stephanou, 64, who apparently died from a heart attack, had been beaten while in custody. She did not link the injuries to his death.
The Turkish Cypriot post mortem itself was inconclusive, but established that Stephanou had been suffering from arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries.
Panos Stavrinos, a private pathologist hired by the family to observe the Turkish Cypriot post mortem, said on Saturday that there was evidence that Stephanou had sustained a number of broken ribs, even though there were no signs of external injuries.
The broken ribs were consistent with a punch rather than a kick, the official Greek Cypriot post mortem results said on Sunday.
Stavrinos said Turkish Cypriot claims that Stephanou had sustained the broken ribs when hospital staff in the north tried to resuscitate him were invalid because the injuries were too low on the rib cage.
But former state pathologist and MEP Marios Matsakis yesterday called for a new post mortem, saying it was conceivable that the injuries could have happened during a resuscitation attempt.
He suggested a foreign expert be brought in to attend a new post mortem.
UNFICYP also issued a statement yesterday expressing “growing concern” about various reports appearing in the press and the “negative speculations” that had dominated the weekend headlines.
The statement said that UNFICYP medical staff attending the November 3 post mortem in the north “noted the full professional co-operation between the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot pathologists who were present”.
“In the view of the UNFICYP medical officer, the deceased’s body showed no evidence of injuries other than those consistent with standard resuscitative procedures,” the statement said.
The Stephanou family is also weary of the publicity and is focusing on the funeral today, Stephanou’s daughter Anna said yesterday. “We are not getting involved,” she said referring to the differing opinions of the pathologists.
Reports on each side varied as to what happened during Stephanou’s detention. Greek Cypriot media say he was denied medicine, while the Turkish Cypriot side said he refused to take any.
Stephanou, who was understood not to be in good health, was arrested at a house in northern Nicosia on October 18 on accusations of smuggling antiquities. His family expressed concern about his health during his detention, and he was taken to hospital at least twice while in custody.
It is understood that when a family member visited him last week, he couldn’t walk properly, but said nothing about having been beaten.
Stephanou, originally from Famagusta, was well known on the island, having been the Irish consul for many years. He was also a founding member of DIKO and close friends with the late Spyros Kyprianou.
A statement from DIKO yesterday expressed sorrow at his death and anger at the beating he allegedly suffered in detention. The party said it supported the family’s right to have the circumstances of his death clarified.
There has been no comment from the government, a silence that has surprised observers given that not only has a Greek Cypriot died in Turkish Cypriot custody, but a prominent one at that.
The government was also silent when Stephanou was arrested and his detention received no attention or condemnation in the government-controlled areas.
Also, no one seems clear about what charges were brought against him, even though he was in detention for two weeks.
Greek Cypriot media have said Stephanou was engaged in retrieving icons and other artefacts looted in the north since 1974.
Antenna TV is believed to have received a call from a former police officer claiming to have recruited the former consul to help return stolen Greek Cypriot artefacts to the Church, saying that Stephanou was working under cover for the state. The former officer reportedly warned Stephanou recently not to cross to the north because it was dangerous for him.
