Michalis Karaolis was born in the village of Palechori of Pitsilia, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. He was a government clerk and a member of EOKA

EOKA

EOKA was an anticolonial, antiimperialist nationalist organisation with the ultimate goal of "The liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke". Although not stated in its initial declaration of existence which was printed and distributed on the 1st of April 1955, EOKA also had a target of achieving...

. He was the first to be sentenced to death and hanged alongside Andreas Dimitriou on May 10, 1956.

On August 28, 1955 he carried out the public murder of P.C. Michael Poullis, a Cypriot police officer

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

, of the Special Branch who had been spying on the Nicosia

Nicosia

Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

 groups of EOKA and interfering with their work. The assassination was carried out in broad daylight whilst P.C. Poullis was on duty at an AKEL meeting at the Ledra Palace

Ledra Palace

The Ledra Palace Hotel is located in central Nicosia, Cyprus, and until 1974 was one of the largest and most glamorous hotels of the capital. The Hotel was built in 1949 and had a de luxe rating. All rooms had hot and cold water, central heating and a telephone. Facilities included a conference,...

.

Karaolis was captured on his way to meet Grigoris Afxentiou

Grigoris Afxentiou

Grigoris Pieris Afxentiou was a guerrilla fighter who fought against the British rule of Cyprus and is considered a national hero. In the hierarchy of EOKA he was second in command to general Georgios Grivas...

's guerillas in the Kyrenia mountains

Kyrenia mountain range

The Kyrenia Mountains are a long, narrow chain of mountains that runs approximately along the north coast of Cyprus. The mountains are primarily limestone, with some marble. The highest mountain, Kyparissovouno, is in elevation. The western half of the range is also known as the Pentadactylos...

, following General George Grivas' orders.

Field Marshal Harding chose to announce Karaolis death sentence on October 28, an important Greek national holiday marking the refusal of Greece to surrender to the Axis Powers in the Second World War, and that hugely inflamed public feeling.

He was 22 years old when he was executed for the murder of P.C. Poullis and buried in the Imprisoned Graves

Imprisoned Graves

The "Imprisoned Graves" is a small cemetery located in the Central Jail of Nicosia, where 13 EOKA fighters, during the 1955-1959 liberation struggle for the liberation of Cyprus from the United Kingdom, were interred...

 in the Central Jail of Nicosia

Central Jail of Nicosia

The Central Jail of Nicosia is the only correctional facility in Cyprus. It is located to the west of the walled part of the Cypriot city of Nicosia, south of the Green Line...

.

The hangings were condemned internationally and caused serious demonstrations and unrest in Greece. The Athens police failed to suppress a huge demonstration and a riot developed in which 7 people were killed and 200 people were injured. The Mayor of Athens protested by taking a hammer to a commemorative marble plaque dedicated in honor of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip while a crowd cheered and applauded and there were many more similar scenes in Greece.

Sources

• The Memoirs of General Grivas, by General Grivas, edited by Charles Foley. Longman. London. 1964
• CYPRUS: Deepening Tragedy, Time Magazine, Monday, May. 21, 1956.