Judge Doria Varoshiotou, who ruled that the 2005 death of national guardsman Thanasis Nicolaou was a criminal act, will not be made permanent after completing her two-year probationary term.

According to information from the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), a notice posted at Limassol district court on Monday morning informed lawyers that Varoshiotou’s judicial service had ended, and pending cases would be rescheduled.

Her 2024 ruling in the long-running case of Thanasis Nicolaou overturned earlier findings that suggested suicide, concluding that Nicolaou had died by strangulation. The decision followed legal disputes with state prosecutors and was met with public applause and emotional scenes in court.

After her ruling, Varoshiotou was moved from the criminal to the civil division.

She later said the president of the Limassol court tried to pressure her into changing the findings of two other death inquests, which she officially pushed back against.

CNA reported that it is rare for a judge not to be made permanent after completing a two-year probationary term. So far, however, there has been no official statement from the Supreme Judicial Council.