CONVICTED felon Sotiris Athinis was yesterday transferred into the custody of police after a Nicosia district judge allowed the prisoner’s remand to go ahead.
Athinis was remanded in custody for eight days in connection with a series of charges including conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, securing profits from illegal means and attempting to destroy property with explosives.
Despite defence lawyer Evangelos Pourgourides efforts to argue that the court had no right to remove his client from under the custodianship of the Central Prisons and placed into police hands instead, the judge ruled that charges under investigation warranted the suspect’s seizure.
She said the fact that Athinis had been named by someone already in police custody for masterminding the foiled murder attempt of his former partner Michalakis Kakathymis last May, as well as a bomb explosion in Nicosia in June, even though he had been behind bars during the past two years, was sufficient reason to allow the remand.
She also said there was valid suspicion that the suspect could influence witnesses or destroy evidence if he was allowed to remain under the guardianship of the Central Prisons and therefore had easy access to communicate with whoever he wanted.
In light of the seriousness of the offences under investigation including the complicated and bulky work ahead, the judge said the request for eight days was appropriate.
Athinis looked unsurprised by the news and merely folded his arms across his chest as he cracked a smile at his lawyer. The 53-year-old was taken upstairs to the court’s holding cells where he deliberated with his lawyer before being returned to Lakatamia police station which was recently transformed into a jail. The convict was moved to the Lakatamia jail from the Central Prisons two weeks ago after his name was linked to an alleged organised crime ring that put out the successful July 17 hit on Kakathymis in Limassol. Specifically Athinis was named as the alleged mastermind behind the ring from his very own prison cell and as someone who had drawn up a ‘hit list’ of everyone he had a gripe with, including Attorney-general Petros Clerides.
Athinis’ 37-year-old Polish wife broke down in tears minutes after her husband was taken from the courtroom. Speaking to a CID officer she said the ordeal was hardest on the couple’s eight-year-old son who was “very upset” about the whole thing. Although she tried to spare the youngster from what was going on, the boy had unfortunately watched the news the other night and overheard a report on his father which had distressed him greatly.
“I’m afraid for him… I don’t know what to do,” she said.
