THREE MEN already in police custody in connection with the murder of media boss Andis Hadjicostis were yesterday remanded for a further eight days as the court heard details of the alleged confession by one of the men about what happened on the night of the murder.
Andreas Gregoriou, 33 Theophanis Hadjigeorgiou, 30, and Costas Proestos, 37, were led out of the Hippocration private hospital where the hearing took place under heavy armed guard.
Nicosia Senior District Judge Nicholas Santis ruled there was justifiable cause to issue the remand despite objections by defence lawyer Michalis Pikis.
Specifically Pikis strongly objected to the holding of Proestos who he said had been cleared following the recent confession of the youngest of the three suspects, Hadjigeorgiou.
Despite the defence lawyer’s efforts to convince the court that his client’s implication in the murder had been lifted, Santis ruled in favour of police claims that more time was needed to investigate the confession fully.
Nicosia CID chief Thomas Efthymiou told the court that the investigations involved six suspects, five of who were already in custody. An international arrest warrant has been issued for a sixth suspect, named as Gregoris Xenofontos, 29, who is thought to have fled to Moldova with his wife and child only days after the murder.
Efthymiou said the case was being investigated in its entirety and that all suspects were being questioned among other things for premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He said over 100 statements had yet to be taken and that if anyone, namely Proestos, was absolved of any involvement they would be released immediately and their name cleared.
On Thursday Hadjigeorgiou finally buckled and allegedly gave police a detailed six and a half page confession in exchange for entry into the witness protection programme. The 30-year-old told police on the night of the January 11 murder he had driven the shooter, a man he named as Xenofontos, to and from Hadjicostis’ home. He said the motorbike the pair had used belonged to the first suspect, Gregoriou, who was in hospital recuperating from a bomb explosion in December.
Hadjigeorgiou also claimed that it had been Gregoriou and him who had initially been going to carry out the murder and that they had been monitoring Hadjicostis’ movements from early December right up until Gregoriou was injured, which was when Xenofontos was allegedly brought into the picture.
Hadjigeorgiou told police the reason Proestos’ fingerprints had been found on the piece of visor found at the scene was because he had borrowed the older man’s crash helmet without telling him the real reason for its use. Hadjigeorgiou also claimed that when he and Xenofontos fled the scene they had ended up in Peristerona where the motorbike they had been using broke down. The 30-year-old then called Proestos to come and collect them to take them back to Nicosia which he did, again allegedly not knowing where the duo had been that night and what they had done.
During his lengthy confession Hadjigeorgiou also implicated TV presenter Elena Skordelli, 42, and her brother Tasos Krasopoulis, 37, as the masterminds behind the hit. The siblings have since been arrested and remanded in custody.
During yesterday’s legal proceedings uniformed and plainclothes officers stood guard in and outside the hospital.
An unshaven Gregoriou had to be moved to a larger room before the proceedings started due to the large number of media present. The 33-year-old lay in bed covered with a sheet and his left leg exposed and bandaged. The room was converted into a courtroom for the hearing, with a high green side table used as the witness box.
The proceedings took over an hour and only Gregoriou and Proestos were represented by Pikis. Hadjigeorgiou had no legal presentation and said he did not object to his remand. Gregoriou also did not object to his remand but Pikis said this in no way meant his client was confessing to the crime as he had already professed his innocence.
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.
He was killed instantly by two shots – one to the chest and one to the back – most likely with a short-barrelled shotgun. Police said the specific type of ammunition used in the murder weapon – 12 gauge rounds – is illegal in Cyprus.
According to witness testimonies, the first shot was fired at point-blank range while Hadjicostis was standing outside his car, speaking on the mobile phone. The victim slumped to the ground, at which point the shooter fired again.
