THE NICOSIA Assizes Court yesterday ruled for another trial-within-a-trial in the Magda murder trial, this time to examine the manner in which the crime scene location report was conducted.
Zeeshan Asghar Muhamad, 22, his Chinese roommate Yu Hong Bo, 28, and Magda Eleftheriou stand accused of murdering 38-year-old Pavlos Christodoulou, Magda’s husband.
Answering questions from state prosecutor Rikkos Mappourides, CID Sergeant Michael Nikolettis took the court through a step-by-step account of his own actions, the statement he had made as well as the crime scene location report.
“I went to the crime scene of the burnt car, registration number ABP 031, where my superiors and colleagues were already present. It was established that it was impossible to recognise the body due to the extreme nature of the burns; the body was only recognised by the father-in-law, who deduced it was in fact Pavlos Christodoulou after recognising his watch and glasses.”
Nikolettis went on to say how Magda took CID officials to Muhamad’s apartment.
“Inside the apartment we discovered several items such as two credit cards and photographs belonging to Magda, telecards and a blood-stained towel, which Muhamad told us ‘was from shaving’. We also found a t-shirt and a pair trousers of which Muhamad told us, and I quote, ‘this trouser is mine but the t-shirt belongs to the Chinese boy.
“On arresting Muhamad and informing him of his right not to speak if he prefers, if he wishes a lawyer and that his comments could be used against him in court, Muhamad said, ‘What evidence you have, why you suspect me?’”
According to Nikolettis, Muhamad and the CID arresting officers returned to the Paphos Gate Police Station in Nicosia at 5.20am, where questioning followed. It was during that time that Muhamad reportedly confessed to the crime.
“At 5.45am, the accused, myself and some other CID officers left for the locations that Muhamad wanted to show us… he took us to a petrol station on Makarios Avenue where he obtained the petrol, a piece of waste ground on Pentepygadion Street where he obtained the iron bar from and the place where the car with the victim’s body was left,” said Nikolettis
Mappourides later submitted to the court the crime scene location report that was in three separate versions – Greek, English and Urdu. But defence lawyer Pavlos Angelides told the judges that it was the first time that he had seen the Urdu and English versions, and with that the judges ruled that a 15-minute recess should take place to allow the defence to review the new evidence.
Angelides came out firing after the recess claiming three faults to the crime scene location report, which he believed made the report “inadmissible”. He told the court that “the report should not stand for three main reasons a) the protection of his human rights looks very questionable b) he was not reminded of his right to have a lawyer and c) not everything was noted down properly in the report.”
The judges agreed with the defences’ request and immediately declared a ‘trial-within-a-trial’.
Questioning Nikolettis, Angelides succeeded in making the CID Sergeant admit that although it was police procedure, he had neglected to write in the report if the accused had been asked whether he needed a lawyer.
“I put it to you, that you did not even tell him that he could have had a lawyer present and another thing, how could you have known if indeed what you were asking the interpreter present was in fact being relayed correctly to my client?”
A disheartened Nikolettis replied: “I am telling that I did ask him if he wanted a lawyer but I didn’t note it in the report. As for what was being said to the accused by the interpreter, I couldn’t say what was being said because I cannot speak Urdu. I believe it was what I was telling him to ask the accused.”
Next on the stand was CID Sergeant Marios Papaevripiades, who told the court that he had no knowledge of what was being said during the whole procedure of the crime scene investigation.
He told the court: “My duty was simply for security purposes. I did not hear anything that was being said between the accused and my colleagues. The only other thing I did was translate the English version of the report into Greek”. Asked by Mappourides how good his English was, Papaevripiades said that he had attended an English speaking college in Cyprus and had also attended a university in England.
The last witness to be called up was CID Sergeant Giorgos Kassinis, who also admitted that he had left out some facts on the report and that he had not mentioned in his own statement if Muhamad needed a lawyer.
The judges adjourned the trial until tomorrow, when they will decide on the admissibility of the crime scene location report.
