Thieves demanded ransom for former president’s body

ATHENS/NICOSIA - Cypriot authorities Tuesday arrested two people, including an Indian national, for allegedly stealing the corpse of former president Tassos Papadopoulos from his grave three months ago and said the suspects had earlier demanded a ransom.

Police arrested an Indian national and a Greek Cypriot after they confessed to having removed Papadopoulos’ remains from its coffin in December and placing the body in another person’s grave.

Justice Minister Loucas Louca said the motive behind the well-organised heist was financial.

The two men said they had called the family of the former president and demanded a ransom of 200,000 euros, Cypriot state television RIK reported. The family has denied ever paying the ransom.

Police received an anonymous call late Monday night that directed officials to a cemetery outside of Nicosia close to where Papadopoulos was initially buried. DNA testing Tuesday confirmed that the body they found there was the remains of the former president.

The theft of Papadopoulos’ body from the village cemetery of Deftera, southwest of the capital Nicosia, had shocked and outraged the community of the eastern Mediterranean island.

Greek Cypriots initially believed the theft could be politically motivated, leading authorities to seek the help from Western intelligence services and Interpol.

The theft was discovered a day before the first anniversary of his death. Papadopoulos died of lung cancer in Nicosia Dec 12, 2008, aged 74.

Papadopoulos served as president from 2003 until March 2008. He lost a bid for a second term in office in 2008 after being defeated by Demetris Christofias, a former coalition partner.

He oversaw the Republic of Cyprus’ entry into the European Union in 2004 and led his community to reject a UN peace plan to reunite the divided island of Cyprus.

The island has been split since 1974 after Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in response to a short-lived coup initiated by Greece.