Man jailed for helping attempted murder suspects escape

ΤΗΕ Nicosia criminal court on Wednesday sentenced 26-year-old Andreas Hadjianastasiou to 10 months in prison after being found guilty as an accessory in the murder attempt of Nicos Rodotheou last November.

Hadjianastasiou was found guilty after admitting to his involvement in the case. The court ruled that although the 26-year-old knew that two persons had been guilty of a felony he had offered to help them escape.

On November 26, two men on a motorcycle had fired five shots at the rear of Rodotheou’s car, but missed. The assailants then fled the scene.

The 26-year-old and another man, 37, were arrested a day after the murder attempt after Rodotheou had recognised the motorcycle the two men had used.

Hadjianastasiou told police that on the night of the murder attempt he and another person had moved the motorcycle which he knew had been used in the murder attempt. He said he did so following instructions by someone else.

He said that another murder attempt against Rodotheou had taken place earlier in November.

Police are also seeking Iosif Iosif, 40, from Nicosia and Miroslav Balazovjech, 37, a Slovakian national in connection with the same case. They are both currently under custody in the north.

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