Marios Matsakis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marios Matsakis | |
|---|---|
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 2004–2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 August 1954 |
| Party | Democratic Party |
| Profession | Forensic pathologist |
Marios Matsakis (born 2 August 1954) is a Greek-Cypriot doctor, coroner, forensic pathologist, and politician who served as Member of the European Parliament and Member of the House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 2004 to 2009. He has been noted for his controversial statements and beliefs.
Matsakis was born on 2 August 1954 in Limassol, which was then under the control of British Cyprus. He graduated from the University of London in 1976 with a BSc in microbiology and was awarded a PhD in biochemistry in 1981. He gained his medical degree from the University of Cambridge in 1984, and specialised in forensic medicine at the University of Glasgow, where he was awarded an MPhil in 1992.[1] He then moved to Greece, where he continued his studies in forensic pathology. He returned to Cyprus in 1994. He initially assumed a position in the medical field, but soon became interested in politics and was elected as an MP in 1996.
Career
In the European Parliament, Matsakis sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He became involved in politics in the mid-1990s, and served as Member of the European Parliament and Member of the House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 2004 to 2009. He ran for president in the 2008 Cypriot presidential elections, coming in fourth place with 0.77% of the national vote.[2] He voted against what would later become Cyprus' universal healthcare service.[3] During the 2019 Ayia Napa rape case, he testified that the victim had indeed been raped and that the rape kit exam presented in court as evidence was "incomplete".[4] He disagreed with state pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous' conclusion that the victim bore no physical signs consistent with a serious sexual assault, telling the court that both the report's findings as well as special DNA tests and photographs were "consistent with the rape taking place" and that "violence was exercised".[5]
