The family of a young man who died in a traffic collision in Limassol in 2012 requests to reopen the case’s file, after details surfaced online on the back of allegations that the accident was covered up because of the involvement of the daughter of a high-profile politician.
In an announcement forwarded to the media on Wednesday, the family of then-17-year-old Andreas Loizou, also claims that police are lying when saying they visited them several times regarding the case and that there were only two witnesses.
They also deny rumours that they took money to remain silent.
The announcement in full:
Through this letter, as the family of the late Andreas Loizou, we would like to express our deepest sorrow, as the tragedy remains unresolved after 11 long years, and for the entire course of events that has recently come back into the public eye.
The ordeal for our family began on the evening of September 2, 2012, when we were informed of Andreas’ injury. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was urgently transferred to Nicosia General Hospital, where he passed away four days later.
Andreas was a child full of optimism and dreams, which were unjustly taken away from him by two reckless drivers who, to this day, remain unpunished for the fateful night of September 2, 2012.
After that night, the family’s struggle began. With this accident, Andreas left behind his family – his mother and father, his older brother, and his younger sister – in immense grief.
As a result, within a year, Andreas’ father, Christakis, was diagnosed with leukaemia due to his sorrow and passed away in January 2015 after a failed bone marrow transplant. Subsequently, the family of the two deceased faced their own struggle.
By bringing back to their memory the tragic events due to news on social media and comments from various individuals who are unaware of the exact circumstances and the family’s journey thus far, they unjustly accuse and expose the family, spreading false information that the family received money to remain silent.
These individuals should only feel shame, as without knowledge of the events or the family itself, they create their own scenarios, causing even more grief for the family, as they publish baseless information and false news about the family.
Furthermore, Cyprus Police, through the media, made statements that do not correspond to the truth, claiming, among other things, that there were only two witnesses, which is untrue since there were many witnesses. They also claimed that officers visited our family several times, which is not substantiated since apart from their initial visit, no one contacted us again.
Moreover, the person who was interrogated and then mentioned by the Police as having no responsibility, is the person who was involved in the collision with Andreas, causing his death. For our family, this person is one of the two individuals responsible for Andreas’ death and bears many responsibilities that have never been attributed to him until now.
As a family, we demand a reexamination of the case, so that justice can be served for our Andreas after so many years, and we urge those who have actual evidence with proofs to come forward and contact us.
We also request that respect be shown for our loss and our family’s grief by stopping the negative commentary and dissemination of false news.
Case background
The case resurfaced on social media after allegations that the daughter of a high-ranking politician is responsible for the accident.
Moreover, persons who helped conceal the case were rewarded with political posts and promotions, the allegations say.
Also, statements from 2012 on the accident were erased from the police’s website.
The statement said that the driver who pulled into the opposite lane on September 2, inadvertently causing Loizou’s death, was driving a light-coloured A3 or A4 Audi convertible. However, the next day, police issued a new statement saying that the car could have been another make.
Both statements are now missing from the website.
The force claims that this is due to an update.
Read more:
Police deny covering up fatal accident allegedly involving politically exposed persons
