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Lawyer Withdraws from Thanasi Nikolas Case, Becomes Witness

Published February 19, 2026, 15:38
Lawyer Withdraws from Thanasi Nikolas Case, Becomes Witness

A significant development occurred during today's court proceedings in the case of Thanasi Nikolaou's death, as the family's lawyer, Savvas Matsas, announced his withdrawal from the case in order to testify as a witness. The court decided to postpone the case to March 13th, as the law firm of Christos Kliridis will now represent the family. Mr. Matsas's withdrawal is due, according to him, to the second criminal investigator, Antonis Alexopoulos, being unwilling to testify due to his candidacy for a judge position, as well as another reason he did not disclose. The defendants, Panikos Stavrianos, Andreas Iatropoulos, Nikos Sofokleous, Christakis Nathanail, and Christakis Kapiliotis, appeared before the Limassol District Court, with the latter representing himself. During the proceedings, there was strong opposition from the defense lawyers regarding the postponement and the timely delivery of witness material. The defense lawyers emphasized that they were ready to proceed with their preliminary objections and that Mr. Matsas's withdrawal does not affect the process. Furthermore, they highlighted discrepancies regarding the volume of witness material, stating it is approximately 1,200 pages and not 5-6,000 as previously reported. Ultimately, the court decided to postpone the case to March 13th, instructing that all witness material and the list of witnesses be delivered to the defense by March 9th. The judge insisted that everyone should be prepared to hear the preliminary objections and advance the process on March 13th, without further postponements.