Kyriakos Amiridis

Kyriakos Amiridis (Greek: Κυριάκος Αμοιρίδης, 30 September 1957 – c. 26 December 2016) was a Greek career diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Greece to Libya and Brazil. He was reported missing on 28 December 2016 while serving as ambassador to Brazil and his body was found near Rio de Janeiro the next day.[1]

Κυριάκος Αμοιρίδης
Kyriakos Amiridis
Ambassador of Greece to Brazil
In office
25 May 2016 – 30 December 2016*
PresidentProkopis Pavlopoulos
Succeeded byVassiliki Lazari (Chargé d' affaires)
Ambassador of Greece to Libya
In office
2012–2016
PresidentKarolos Papoulias
Personal details
Born(1957-09-30)30 September 1957
Veria, Greece
Diedc. 26 December 2016(2016-12-26) (aged 59)
Nova Iguaçu, Brazil
Spouse(s)
Françoise de Souza Oliveira
​
​
(m. 2001; his death 2016)​
Children1 daughter
* Term ended on 30 December when his death was confirmed.

Career

Amiridis began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens in 1985 and was transferred to the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace in Thessaloniki. His first foreign position was at the Greek Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia from 1988.[2]

In 1993, Amiridis started working in Brussels at the Permanent Representation of Greece to the European Union. He returned to Greece in 1997 to work in the European Foreign Affairs Department at the Foreign Ministry in Athens.

In 2000, Amiridis moved to Brazil to serve as the Consul General at the Honorary Consulate of Greece in Rio de Janeiro. Three years later, he became Consul General at the Consulate General of Greece in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

After returning to Athens in 2008, Amiridis was in 2012 appointed to serve as the Ambassador of Greece to Libya. In 2016 he was chosen to serve as Ambassador to Brazil and he presented his credentials to Brazilian Acting President Michel Temer on 25 May 2016.[3]

Personal life

In 2004 Amiridis married Françoise de Sousa Oliveira, a Brazilian national, and together they had one daughter.[2]

Death

Amiridis was reported missing while on vacation in Rio de Janeiro in late December 2016. He was last heard from on the evening of 26 December when he sent a message from his phone. His wife Françoise reported him missing two days later and claimed that she had been unable to contact him.[4]

On 29 December, Brazilian police said a homicide team had launched an investigation into the ambassador's disappearance. Hours later, a body was found in a burnt-out car underneath an overpass of the Arco Metropolitano do Rio de Janeiro highway near Nova Iguaçu. The vehicle had been rented by Amiridis and the remains were positively identified as those of the ambassador.[5]

On 30 December, Amiridis's wife Françoise and two other people were detained in connection with the ambassador's apparent murder. One of the apprehended figures, military police officer Sérgio Moreira,[6] is suspected of having been having an affair with Françoise; he confessed to the murder. The roles of the wife and the second man are still unclear.[1] Police believe Amiridis was murdered in an apartment owned by the ambassador in Nova Iguaçu, where the couple and their daughter were staying for the Christmas holiday.[7] Blood stains were found on a sofa in the apartment.[8]

References
  1. "Military police officer confesses to murder of Greek ambassador". BNO News. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. Biography on Greek embassy website
  3. "Itamaraty Brazil🇧🇷 on Twitter". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  4. "Greek Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis missing in Rio de Janeiro". BNO News. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  5. "Brazilian police believe body found in Rio is missing Greek ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. "Brazilian police suspect 'crime of passion' in Greek ambassador's death". Deutsche Welle. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  7. "Mulher de embaixador da Grécia é presa pelo assassinato do marido". 31 December 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  8. "Brazil police detain wife of murdered Greek ambassador Amiridis". BBC News. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
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