By Martin Hellicar
A MAN convicted for his part in the May 29 shooting of Antonis Fanieros tried to warn him before the attack, the Nicosia Assizes heard yesterday.
Tassos Simellides, chief prosecution witness in the trial of three Aeroporos brothers for the attempted murder of the 56-year-old gambling club owner, told the court he tipped-off Fanieros two days before the attack to be careful because he would “come to harm”.
Father-of-three Simellides – who has named Panicos Aeroporos, 25, as hit- man for the drive-by shooting and his two brothers Andros, 30, and Hambis, 35, as planner and instigator respectively – was cross-examined by defence consul Efstathios Efstathiou yesterday. Efstathiou put it to the 28-year- old witness that his testimony against the brothers was a “fabrication of his imagination” intended to convict the three.
Simellides has claimed Hambis, Andros and Panicos forced him to
act as motorbike driver for the attack by threatening to kill him if he declined.
“Why did you not go to police when they threatened you?” Efstathiou asked the witness.
“I was afraid of the Aeroporos brothers,” Simellides said, and proceeded to give a catalogue of violent offenses he claimed the brothers had committed.
“In your original statement to police on June 13 you made no reference to being threatened by the Aeroporos brothers,” Efstathiou retorted.
“I thought it would be easier to do it now I’m in court, to avoid danger. If they go to prison both I and my family will be safe,” Simellides responded.
Efstathiou also challenged Simellides’s account of being verbally threatened by Hambis. He told the court the elder Aeroporos had no voice at the time that Simellides said the threats were made because of injuries suffered in a 1995 machine-gun attack.
“If what I have told the court is lies then may I burn in hell,” Simellides said.
During two days of testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday, Simellides told the court Hambis wanted Fanieros dead because he considered him responsible for the 1995 attempt on his life.
The hearing is to continue today, with police again expected to mount a massive security operation at the court for fear the Aeroporos family might try a hit on Simellides.
Hambis, Andros and Panicos deny involvement in the attack on Fanieros.
Meanwhile, Larnaca police reported bomb threats had been made against Fanieros on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. In both cases an anonymous called said a bomb had been placed at the same Atalantis street club where Fanieros was shot on May 29, police said. Both threats proved to be hollow.
Police added that another 13 similar threats against the club had been made since the shooting.
