Motive for Cyprus corpse theft still unclear

Something’s not quite right with this story about the president of Cyprus’s stolen corpse being found. Well… something other than the corpse being stolen in the first place. Contradicting early suspicions that hardline Greek nationalist Tassos Papadopolous’s remains had been taken for political reasons, the government is now saying that ransom was the motive. They ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Something's not quite right with this story about the president of Cyprus's stolen corpse being found. Well... something other than the corpse being stolen in the first place. Contradicting early suspicions that hardline Greek nationalist Tassos Papadopolous's remains had been taken for political reasons, the government is now saying that ransom was the motive. They don't seem to have gotten their stories straight with the president's family before the media started asking questions, though: 

Something’s not quite right with this story about the president of Cyprus’s stolen corpse being found. Well… something other than the corpse being stolen in the first place. Contradicting early suspicions that hardline Greek nationalist Tassos Papadopolous’s remains had been taken for political reasons, the government is now saying that ransom was the motive. They don’t seem to have gotten their stories straight with the president’s family before the media started asking questions, though: 

Justice Minister Loucas Louca said during a news conference that Papadopoulos’ family had received a demand for ransom, but that no money had been paid. He didn’t indicate when the demand had been made.

"The conclusion is that ransom was behind the theft and there was no political motive," Louca told reporters, adding that the family had contacted police.

But two spokesmen for the family told The Associated Press that the family had received no such demand.

"Officials must be very careful when they open their mouths," said Vassilis Palmas, a family friend and former government spokesman during Papadopulos’ tenure. "The minister said something that is unfounded."

Louca, however, stood by his statement.

"As minister of justice and public order, I’m obliged to tell the truth. All that I stated previously completely reflects the truth and the facts," he said in a second news conference.

Huh? Somebody’s hiding something here. 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

Tag: Cyprus

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