By Martin Hellicar
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Alecos Markides yesterday lashed out at the House Legal Affairs committee, claiming it was responsible for the release of two murder suspects on a legal technicality.
On Wednesday, Markides ordered that charges against two of the five accused in the Hambis Aeroporos murder trial be dropped after the Supreme Court ruled key evidence against them was inadmissible.
Markides was obviously not happy to see cabaret owner Sotiris Athinis, 43, and his 51-year-old sister Zoe Alexandrou – who had denied charges of conspiring to murder 36-year-old Hambis – walk free.
Had the committee got its act together and sent two bills updating the evidence law to the plenum for approval, then the Supreme Court would not have thrown out the evidence against Athinis and Alexandrou, Markides maintained.
The higher court upheld a defence objection to the prosecution’s use as evidence of numbers stored in the memory of a mobile phone abandoned by the three hit men at the scene of the December 16 murder.
The prosecution had told the criminal court the numbers stored in the mobile phone would prove there had been contact between Athinis, Alexandrou and the other accused in the run-up to the shooting.
Markides said the relevant legal amendments had been tabled before the House committee years ago and that they should have been forwarded to the plenum long since.
“I presented the bill to all parties, and was left with the impression that the matter would be viewed very positively. I sent the two bills to the cabinet, and the cabinet approved them,” Markides said.
He dismissed committee claims that the bills were “fragmented”, and said committee members had a duty to forward the amendments to the plenum even if they did not agree with them.
He suggested the Legal Affairs committee was over-stepping its authority.
“The committee has repeatedly stated that it won’t vote for the bills and that I must send them another version, but does the committee speak for the House?”
Committee members were outraged by Markides’ outburst.
Akel deputy Yiannakis Agapiou summed up the mood when he said the Attorney-general’s stance was improper and insulting to the committee.
The committee feels that, as a public official, Markides should not have launched such an attack.
Deputies intend to invite Markides to the next committee session to seek explanations.
Three suspects remain on trial for the Limassol murder of Hambis Aeroporos, believed to be part of a gangland turf war. One of the accused, waiter Prokopis Prokopiou, 35, has admitted to shooting Hambis and is to be sentenced at a later date. Former policeman Christos Symianos, 35, and former special constable Savvas Ioannou, alias Kinezos, 33, deny charges of pulling the trigger on Hambis.
