Speech by Aristofanis Georgiou, former AKEL MP and member of the Parliamentary Committee on the File on Cyprus at the burial of the remains of anti-fascist Hero Pantelis Charalambous

 

6 November 2022, Lazania

Dear brothers and relatives of the hero Pantelis Charalambous, from the village of Lazania.

Dear brothers and relatives of the heroes Charalambos and Anastasis Christofi, from Fikardo and Christakis Kombou, from Limassol

Dear Compatriots,

Today is a special day for all of us, but it is especially special for the brothers and relatives of the Hero Pantelakis Charalambous.

Today Pantelakis returns to the land that gave birth to him. He returns to his village, Lazania.

Today he will be honored and buried as he deserves as a Hero of Democracy and Freedom of our Motherland.

This funeral is the first one held for the four anti-fascist Heroes/Fighters of Democracy. This will be followed on 12 November 2022 by the funerals of brothers Pambos and Tasos Christofis in Fikardo and on 26 November 2022 by the funeral of Christakis Kombos in Limassol.

I believe it is necessary to refer to all 4 of our Heroes because they lived together, fought together and died together.

Before I proceed I think it is right to give a short description of our Heroes so that we know who they were and who they are, because with their sacrifice they have entered the eternity of Heroes.

PANTELAKIS CHARALAMBOUS – 22 years old, Cabinetmaker from Lazania

The sixth of the nine children of Charalambos Christofi and Theodosia Charalambous from Lazania, poor shepherds who struggled to feed their large family. Charalambos Christofi Siammas – 24 years old, Technician from the village of Fikardo.

CHARALAMBOS CHRISTOPHI SIAAMMAS – 24 years old, Technician from Fikardo

The third of the 8 children of Christofi Ioannou (Siammas) and Eleni Christoforou, he was a dynamic and determined man. He was interested in the community and was an active citizen in the small community where he lived.

ANASTASIS CHRISTOPHI – 22 years old, Cabinetmaker from Fikardo

Born in 1952, a calm, peaceful man, with rare mental strength and fortitude.

CHRISTAKIS KOMBOS – 24 years old, member of the Special Reserve Force

Born in Limassol on 29 March 1950, he was the sixth of nine children of Petros and Eleni Kombos. He graduated from Limassol Second High School.  He was described as a peaceful man and always smiling. His decision to join the Special Reserve Force [Note: established by President Makarios to fight EOKA B] marked his life and proved fatal as it was to cost him his own life.

The four young men were full of Life, Dreams, Hopes and also with the principles of Democracy, Progress and Freedom.

Dear compatriots,

It is time to remember together the journey of our four heroes that began on 15 July 1974 and whose path reaches to this day, but as the Honored Path of Heroes, will continue through the years to teach the current and future generations how to love life, Democracy, Freedom and Universal Values, whose dominant element is People.

Christakis Kombos consciously enlisted as a member of the Special Reserve Force to defend the Constitutional Order in Cyprus, to Fight against the coupists subversion sought by Grivas and EOKA B and to give his all and his life for the democracy and freedom of our little Cyprus.

On 15 July 1974 he was at the Presidential Palace and there with his other Comrades, they waged the battle of resistance at the Presidential Palace. When the time came for Makarios to leave the Presidential Palace, Christakis Kombos and police officer Georgios Vrudos were among the people who accompanied him during his escape to the Monastery of Kykkos.

Arriving at the community of Klirou, they stopped to change cars and continue the course of Makarios and save him from the claws and teeth of his coupist pursuers, they stopped at the house of a loyal police officer, where they did indeed change cars and continued the escape route.

As Vrudos pleaded illness, Makarios gave orders to remain in Klirou to take care of his health and then to go to Limassol.  At the same time, Kombos was ordered to accompany Vrudos for his safety and protection.

Unfortunately, at Klirou they were spotted by EOKA B gunmen who told them to surrender and Kombos surrendered the weapon he had with him.

After Vrudos was examined by a doctor, the two were taken to Fikardo where a certain democrat citizen offered to accommodate, protect and help them reach Limassol.

Indeed, at this stage, Anastasis Christofi was sent to go to the neighbouring village of Lazania to find his brother Charalambos who had a car and come to Fikardou, to take the 2 policemen to Limassol.

Charalambos without any hesitation and despite the disagreement expressed by his fiancée and mother-in-law, with determination and bravery, accompanied by his inseparable friend Pantelakis Charalambous, went to Fikardo and boarded the vehicle with 5 persons. The two brothers, Pantelakis Charalambous and the two police officers Kombos and Vrudos.

They followed a route from Fikardou to the villages of Gouri, Farmakas, Odou, Kellaki and arrived on 16 July 1974 at Pareklisha, where the armed blockade of EOKA B stopped and arrested them.

At that time, the coupist Andreas Neokleous was passing by the place and gave instructions for Vrudos, whom he knew, to go to Polemidia, while the other 4 remained in the area.

The 4 Heroes were taken by the illegal EOKA B gunmen to the house of a certain former policeman and there, as it became known, they were “tried” and sentenced to death.

During their illegal detention, the 4 Heroes were subjected to attacks, beatings, violence and all kinds of humiliation until they were taken to Vathi Arkadzii in Agios Tychonas, where they were executed in cold blood and buried roughly in a garbage dump.

A witness at the later trial reported that the executioners/murderers of our Heroes celebrated their “success” with such enthusiasm as if they had liberated Constantinople.

The families of the Heroes, their parents and brothers and sisters, at the risk of their own lives, continued to search for our missing Heroes.

Finally, on 5 August 1974, a relative of Kombos discovered the spot in the garbage dump where our 4 Heroes were provisionally buried.

He searched every day until he discovered a human hand emerging from the ground which in the end belonged to Christakis Kombos.

The descriptions given by the persons who identified the 4 bodies and especially by Ioannis Christofi, are characteristic and very touching, especially as to the fact that the 2 brothers even in their makeshift grave were found with their bodies in an embrace.

After the recognition and again without being given the appropriate honors they deserved, the 4 Heroes were buried in a mass grave at the Agios Nikolaos Cemetery in Limassol where they were until their recent exhumation

Eventually after an investigation was carried out into the murder of the 4 Heroes, 7 persons known as EOKA B fighters of Limassol were charged in court and brought before the Limassol Criminal Court:

The EOKA B members were the following: Andreas Pouris, Michalis Stokkos, Charalambos Fournaris, George Agiotis, Charalambos Manolis, Michalis Pachniotis and Christakis Pavlou.

But despite the very good and substantial testimonies before the Court to convict the 7 of them as guilty for the murder of the 4 Fighters of Democracy, nevertheless justice “preferred” to remain blind, as seen in the Statue of Themis and thus on the basis of ridiculous arguments acquitted the accused and dropped charges.

The Appeal subsequently filed by the then Attorney General was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which was the Supreme Court, because there was no right of Appeal against acquittals by the Court of Cassation.

Later in a new case they were sentenced to prison for possession of weapons.

One wonders, what were the guns for? Certainly not to light a candle in church, but to kill, murder people.

The relatives of our Heroes, their Fighters and all the Fighters from then until today have been complaining that the constituted organs of the Republic of Cyprus failed to pay even the least to the families of the 4 unjustly and savagely murdered Heroes. Since then, the struggle for vindication and justice continues.

It has always been the position of the families that the Heroes should be buried in the land that gave birth to them and that they should be given the ceremonies befitting their sacrifice.

Religious and political Ceremonies for their sacrifice and to give them the Honors due to them, as well as to their families.

In the end, the parents of the Heroes left with the pain of losing their own children, but also with the bitterness due to the State’s inability to enforce the state laws and the Constitution and to deliver Justice, for the punishment of the killers.

After 48 years, the brothers and families of the 4 Heroes decided to take legal action and demand the exhumation of the Heroes, the identification of the remains through the scientific method of DNA and genetics and to burial of each hero in his birthplace, namely in Lazania, Fikardou and Limassol. They also asked for a Forensic Examination and Report should be carried out which would show the cause of death, the manner and brutality with which the murder occurred.

For the implementation of the above and for the purposes of history, I will report that two applications were registered at the Limassol District Court, No. 139/2022 for Christakis Kombos and Application No. 152/2022 for Pantelakis Charalambous and the brothers Charalambos and Anastasis Christofis.

On 1 July 2022, the Court issued the Orders requested and ordered the Commissioner of Humanitarian Affairs to proceed immediately with the exhumation, identification of the remains and reburial of the Heroes in their birthplaces.

The Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs with his Officers proceeded immediately to implement the Orders and conducted the 1st exhumation in July 2022, where the remains of the 3 heroes were identified.

Further investigations were required and a new exhumation was carried out in September 2022, when the 4th remains were located and at the same time, after the brothers of the Heroes gave the Institute of Genetics, Genetic Material, the bones were identified.

On 25 October 2022 at the place maintained by the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs we experienced very shocking and moving moments with the information we received about the 4 murdered Heroes and the way they were killed and the brutality used against them.

We were in front of the bones, which, according to the forensic experts of the Kapodistrian University of Athens who examined them, spoke to us – both their bones and their clothes.

It was obvious that the four were beaten, abused and shot, but at the same time it seems that they resisted the ruthless killers of EOKA B until their last moment.

It is evident from the bones that Pantelakis’ death was caused by a gunshot that struck the right ribs and broke them from the 2nd rib to the 8th rib and the right shoulder blade. It is further demonstrated that his death was instantaneous.

At the same time he was struck in the nasal bone and lower jaw. The red jersey he was wearing shows where the bullets passed through.

Our other 3 other Heroes appear to have survived the violence, abuse and the multiple shots they were fired, which is precisely why they were given the final shot to the skull to be sure of their death.

But science, the strength and perseverance of the relatives gave us a new testimony because the Heroes themselves through their graves, through their bones and through the clothing and footwear they wore at the time spoke and gave us a new testimony which must in no way be wasted and must be used to get justice as it should be delivered.

The families have the right to demand that the case be reopened for the conviction of the killers.

At this stage, I wish to thank the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Fotis Fotiou, for his cooperation and positivity in implementing the Orders, as well as Xenophon Kallis, but also all the scientists, experts and workers who have worked to make it possible today to be here for the Official Burial, after 48 years, of a hero of Democracy and Freedom, Pantelakis Charalambous.

It is time however to deal briefly with who is responsible for the Coup, for the Invasion, for the Occupation and the Inslavement our homeland is still suffering and that continues even though so many years have passed.

The wounds of the treason committed are still open and bleeding, but the traitors and their accomplices walk free.

The Finding on the “Cyprus File” commissioned by the House of Representatives recorded that Grivas was sent to Cyprus, founded EOKA B, and had as his sole purpose the destabilization, disruption and disruption of the functioning of the State and to damage the Elected President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III.

In general, Grivas’ mandate was to lead Cyprus to destabilization, so that the forces controlled by the Junta of Greece i.e. the Army, the National Guard and EOKA B would intervene forcefully, armed, to finish off President Makarios and take power, in order to achieve Enosis, the union of Cyprus with Greece, as it was being promised.

The Finding of the “Cyprus File” has named the traitors of the Republic of Cyprus and with evidence, testimonies and arguments it has proven that the betrayal of Cyprus is two sides of the same coin, namely that the Coup and the Invasion were planned and drawn up in agreement between the Greek Junta and EOKA B and its supporters in the various security bodies/agencies: state machinery, National Guard and Police Force, with the guidance, organization and acquiescence of the English-Americans, Turkey and NATO.

The perpetrators of these crimes of the violent, armed overthrow of the Constitution, were the Greek Junta, the military force it had in Cyprus, their organs in the National Guard and EOKA B.

It has also been recorded that Grivas, Syros (EOKA B Deputy Chief), Karouzos, Kiki Konstantinou and Lefteris Papadopoulos, who served as leading members of EOKA B, were among those who drew up and planned numerous plans to overthrow the government and assassinate Makarios and were the ones who founded and armed EOKA B and turned it against the Constitution and democracy.

All of the above are responsible for all the pain we have suffered since then until today.

But let me point out that we must finally decide that we will give a future to Cyprus and its people, but we must change our line and policies.

Real history must be taught in schools and in society so that Cypriots can learn about the Heroes of Democracy and the Resistance, so that they can learn about the courage and determination of Pantelakis, Pambos, Tasos and Christakis.

Education at long last must name the Traitors of this Land by their name and surname, so that every modern and after us citizen knows that Georgios Grivas’ ‘Digenis’ and his associates were TRAITORS.

I really wonder why Greek Cypriots should know about the Ephialtes of Marathon and not know about the Grivas of Cyprus?

It is an erroneous state of affairs that 48 years after the Black Events of 1974 we have not got a brain and instead of erecting Andriads and Museums to those who fought and gave their lives for us to live, Parliament these days decided [by a majority made up of the parties DISY/ELAM/DIKO/EDEK with the abstention of DIPA] to create a Grivas museum, even from money that comes out of the pockets of us all, but also of the families of the Fallen, the Disabled and the Missing Persons.

All I can say is SHAME!

These decisions and actions have nothing to do with the sacrifice of our Heroes and the true History of our Homeland.

These actions provoke every Democratic Citizen, every person who loves their country and life.

We, the Fighters and Appreciators of the work, valour and sacrifice of our Heroes have the supreme duty not to lower the flag of the struggle for Democracy and not to permit society to forget, because peoples who forget and do not learn from their own History have no future at all.

We, because we want our Homeland to have a future, will continue the struggle for Democracy and for the reunification of our Homeland, where all our people, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians and Maronites and Latins will live under the same sky and State.

Only in this way do we respect and honor our Heroes.

It is also our historical duty to prevent those forces and circles who participated, those who tolerated the putsch/coup d’état, those who provided political cover and political expression to the coupists, those who betrayed us during the Invasion, from being at the helm of the state.

Unfortunately, certain forces and circles are still unrepentant. We must stop the slide towards partition and prevent those who did this to us from being in power, because the next step will throw us off the cliff and into destruction.

Before I close my intervention today, I want to thank the three families for their fighting spirit, their courage and to assure them that we are all with them in their struggle, which is our struggle too.

I would like to take this opportunity to call on all Democrats and Resistance Fighters to rally together to wage an organized struggle and Resistance for Real Change in political life and the executive power.

So let us all struggle together as our 4 Heroes and all the other heroes of the Republic of Cyprus did who sacrificed their lives for Cyprus and its People.

I conclude by saying that now that the very Bones of our Heroes have spoken to us, we must bring Justice to the level it should be and the State must be obliged to deliver Moral and Practical Justice to our Heroes.

HONOUR AND GLORY TO OUR HEROES!