Eight years for attempted murder

A 33-year-old man was yesterday jailed for eight years in connection with the attempted murder of two brothers on Christmas Day in Nicosia last year.

Giorgos Zavrantonas had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit felony charges for the attempt against brothers Andreas and Harris Gregoriou who survived a car bomb explosion in Tseri.

Zavrantonas has named two other people as his accomplices one of whom has escaped abroad.

The other will face trial on November 11.

Andreas Gregoriou is one of four defendants in the murder trial of media owner Andis Hadjicostis.

Zavrantonas was arrested in connection with the planned murder of five individuals involved in the online gambling scene and is now a prosecution witness after agreeing to testify against several people implicated in the case.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.