Helios trial stalled over video testimony

IN THE ongoing Helios trial, the Nicosia Criminal Court has deferred a decision on a motion to admit the remote testimony of two USA-based witnesses.

The court said it would deliver its decision on April 5. It had heard arguments for and against the motion during a previous hearing.

The motion was filed by the Attorney-general’s office (the prosecution) and involves the summoning of two Boeing experts to testify via teleconference. The witnesses are considered key to the prosecution’s case.

The trial has stalled on this point for over a month.

The defendants are: former chief pilot with Helios Ianko Stoimenov; Andreas Drakos, chairman of the board of Helios; Demetris Pantazis, chief executive officer; Giorgos Kikidis, the airline’s operations manager; and Helios Airways as a legal entity. They have all pleaded not guilty.

They face charges of manslaughter and of causing the death of 119 people through a reckless act. They are on trial for “employing, and continuing to employ, unfit and inadequate pilots.”

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.