THE DEFENCE in the ongoing trial for the murder of Sigma owner Andis Hadjicostis yesterday argued that the testimony of the key prosecution witness was “the product of negotiation and horse-trading”.
It further tried to pick holes in the testimony of star witness Fanos Hadjigeorgiou, using his failure to remember a Christmas tree in the house of one of the defendants, Tasos Krasopoulis, to argue that his testimony was full of lies.
Marios Georgiou, Krasopoulis’ lawyer, suggested that Fanos Hadjigeorgiou made his testimony up with the aim of getting in the witness protection programme.
The defence lawyer said: “You decided to talk the day before your statement and had already agreed on it with the police. Your testimony was the product of negotiation and was in your interest. It was the product of horse-trading and give-and-take and 90 per cent of your testimony is false.”
The key witness repeated that everything he had said was true.
Hadjigeorgiou, who has received immunity from prosecution in return for testifying against the four defendants in the case – Elena Skordelli, Krasopoulis, alleged fixer Andreas Gregoriou and alleged shooter Gregoris Xenofontos – claims to have driven the getaway motorcycle.
He was arrested on January 14, 2010 and on January 21 gave police a statement claiming he was drawn into a plot to assassinate Hadjicostis that was masterminded by Skordelli who wanted her Sigma boss dead.
The defendants’ lawyers have suggested that Hadjigeorgiou was in fact the shooter but has cut a deal with the state prosecution to get four convictions.
The defence lawyer asked Hadjigeorgiou whether before giving his statement police offered him €50,000, protection for him and his family and a ticket abroad in return for entering the witness protection programme.
He replied no such deal was made before his testimony
“The police told me I have to change my life. They didn’t tell me anything about this programme. I found out I had entered the programme in late January.”
Georgiou then argued one person who was in detention with him at Pera Chorio police station, said Hadjigeorgiou had told him a day before giving testimony that the police would give €50,000 and send him abroad.
The lawyer suggested that the offer for the €50,000 was to implicate Skordelli and Krasopoulis. The key witness asked what interest he had in implicating the two. Georgiou responded: “So you could get off the hook sir.”
Asked by the defence whether he was paid €50,000 for the crime he committed, Hadjigeorgiou responded that it wasn’t him that committed the murder but the fourth defendant Grigoris Xenofontos.
His role was to drive the getaway bike, and after a “chat” with Gregoriou, he was paid €1,200 for the job, said Hadjigeorgiou.
The lawyer proceeded to probe the witness on the alleged meeting he had with Gregoriou and Krasopoulis at the latter’s house. Asked if he remembered a large object in a specific part of the house, Hadjigeorgiou said no.
The lawyer showed the court a picture taken inside the house on December 12, 2009 which showed a large Christmas tree in the house.
Georgiou argued that if the witness had ever gone to Krasopoulis’ house, he would have seen that tree. “Since he didn’t see it, you are dealing with a liar,” he said.
As the trial began yesterday morning, Georgiou had also claimed that the media’s coverage of the trial, particularly television coverage, “may be a problem to convince defence witnesses to come forward and testify in the case.”
Hadjicostis was gunned down outside his home in Engomi, Nicosia, on January 11 last year. He was married with two children.
