A NICOSIA district court judge put off until today her decision on the remand renewal of TV presenter Elena Skordelli and her brother Tasos Krasopoulis in connection with the murder of media boss Andis Hadjicostis.
Judge Stalo Hadjiyianni was yesterday forced to make the decision after the siblings’ defence lawyer made a request to see four statements given to police by another suspect, Theophanis Hadjigeorgiou. The latter is in currently in custody for the same case and allegedly gave authorities a full confession on January 21 in which he incriminated Skordelli, 42, and Krasopoulis, 37, as the masterminds behind the January 11 killing.
Michalakis Kyprianou presented in court two European court decisions allowing suspects access to incriminating statements made against them. Prosecution lawyer Savvas Matsas said the decisions bore no relevance to yesterday’s remand renewal hearing as they concerned courts in Belgium and Germany where legal procedures differed from Cyprus. Nevertheless Hadjiyianni put off reaching a decision until today after the normally straightforward procedure ran on for almost four hours.
Skordelli and Krasopoulis both looked relaxed in their jeans and coats as they stood for a good half of the lengthy procedure, their hands clasped in front of them. Later the pair was allowed to be seated and once or twice the siblings glanced at each other and smiled.
The TV presenter’s husband and 20-year-old son were in court to offer their support as were a few of her girlfriends, one of whom embraced the suspect, squeezing her tightly, during a short recess in proceedings.
Skordelli also complained to Nicosia CID chief Thomas Efthymiou that the water in her holding cell had been freezing for the first couple of days. Asked by Efthymiou if it was still a problem, the mother-of-two said it was now “okay”.
Prior to Hadjiyianni’s decision to put off the remand hearing the court heard that the duo had allegedly promised the hitmen money and employment at Sigma television. Skordelli’s alleged motive for the murder was revenge because she was said to have blamed Hadjicostis’ for forcing her out of Sigma even though she was a major shareholder in the station.
Efthymiou told the court the two siblings tried to purchase a 51 per cent controlling share of Sigma and that they had bought shares from four other shareholders as well as approached another major shareholder to achieve this end. Skordelli allegedly approached the major shareholder after Hadjicostis’ murder and tried to convince him not to mention to police that she had approached him because she had denied knowing him. She is also said to have told the shareholder to contact her on another telephone number. Efthymiou said on Monday authorities would seek a court order giving them access to incoming and outgoing calls made by the two suspects. Meanwhile investigators also found evidence that Skordelli felt she was in a “living hell” at Sigma due to Hadjicostis’ treatment of her, Efthymiou said.
During his cross-examination of Efthymiou, defence lawyer Kyprianou said police had completed their investigations into the two suspects and that their only objective in holding them for a further eight days was to pressure them into confessing to a crime they did not commit. Efthymiou denied the accusation and was adamant that investigators still had much work to do and that the duo could tamper with evidence if allowed to go free.
Hadjicostis, CEO of the family-controlled DIAS media group and Sigma TV, was gunned down on the night of January 11 just outside his Engomi home.
