Second 8-day Remand for Grave Robbers

Nicosia District Court has remanded an Indian man and Mamas Prokopiou Kitas for a second eight-day period on allegations of stealing the remains of former president Tassos Papadopoulos.

The men have admitted to the crime, according to police, who have taken statements from Mamas Kitas and his brother Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, aka Al Capone. Antonis Kitas is an inmate in Nicosia Central Prisons where he is serving a life sentence for murdering two women.

Papadopoulos' remains were re-buried last week after his body was found in Strovolos cemetary. Authorities said that the suspects demanded money in return for information for the whereabouts of the body.

The case triggered a public row about conditions in the prisons, where inmates possess mobile phones and can organise crimes from within their cells.