A 23-YEAR-old supermarket employee held on suspicion of stealing arms from a military depot in Evrychou yesterday told the Nicosia court he was sorry for his treacherous act and was ready to bear the punishment.
Panicos Papanicolaou was yesterday referred to the Assizes court, together with conscript Antonis Nicolaou, 19, and 21-year-old cabaret worker Eugenios Zahariou. There, they will face nine charges, including armed robbery, possession and transfer of explosives and firearms and breaking into a munitions depot.
Nicolaou and Zahariou were also charged with conspiracy to commit felony.
The three men were arrested 10 days ago, just 48 hours after three hooded men raided the army post near Evryhou and stole all the weapons stored in the armoury.
The raiders stole three G3 automatic weapons, one HK11 light machine gun, one MG3 machine gun, and a Russian-made RPG 40mm anti-tank rocket launcher along with six missiles.
They also took 1,445 7.62mm rounds along with 1,000 machine gun rounds.
All the weapons have been recovered.
The court heard how the three men allegedly used pepper spray and a stun gun to subdue the three soldiers manning the post before fleeing with their loot.
The prosecution yesterday requested the defendants held until their trial, arguing there was a risk of them absconding, as the offences they were accused of could land them in prison for life.
The prosecutor said the defendants could also try to influence material witnesses if they were released, revealing to the court that they had already allegedly tried to force two of their friends to help them by providing false alibis about their whereabouts on the night of the raid.
Neophytos Papamiltiadous, defending, said he had no objection to the prosecutor’s request, adding that Papanicolaou had asked him to apologise of his behalf to his family and to the nation for his treacherous act, adding that he was ready to accept whatever punishment was imposed.
The judge ordered that the three remain in custody until their trial begins on March 5.
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