Remand for second suspect in Oroklini murder attempt

Larnaca district court issued an eight-day remand on Saturday for a 34-year-old man suspected of being involved in an attempted murder in Oroklini last week which injured a six-year-old boy.

Arriving at the court, the 34-year-old was wearing a bullet-proof vest and under heavy armed guard.

During the hearing, his lawyer attempted to pour doubt on statements made by the 31-year-old man, who was arrested and remanded for eight days in the same case on Thursday, after turning himself in to police.

The lawyer pointed out that the 31-year-old had verbally admitted his involvement in the attempted murder of a 42-year-old man in Oroklini, in which both he and his six-year-old son were injured.

The case’s investigator, responding to questions from the suspect’s lawyer, stated that in his written statement, the 31-year-old suspect admitted that he did not know if there were other people involved in the attempted murder apart from a 35-year-old individual who is still at large.

He added that the 31-year-old had reported to the police that the 35-year-old suspect was the person who approached him to plan the murder of the 42-year-old in Oroklini, for which he was paid €20,000.

Meanwhile, the investigator also told the court that the 35-year-old was reported to police as a missing person on December 7 by his sister.

But the 35-year-old’s sister, he said, had also reported to the police that he had revealed to her that he had conspired with the 34-year-old suspect, in court on Saturday, to commit the murder of the 42-year-old in Oroklini and that he would receive the sum of €40,000 from the 34-year-old, however in the end received only €20,000.

The sister also told police that the 35-year-old handed her a mobile phone, which she turned over to authorities as evidence.

The investigator added that the sister, the father of the 35-year-old, and the police officer that received the information did not give written testimony on the suspect’s disappearance.

According to the investigator, the 34-year-old suspect was not tied through DNA to the weapon or the balaclava found at the scene, and that nothing suspicious was found at his home.

To other questions from the suspect’s lawyer, the investigator replied that the 31-year-old man, in two voluntary statements he gave on December 8 and 9, referred to the role the 35-year-old played in the attempted murder, after he sent his wife and children abroad.

Only a verbal statement was taken from the 42-year-old would-be victim, since the attack against him he has been hospitalised at the Larnaca general and is unable to give a written statement.

He also said that as part of the investigation of the case, statements will be taken from the neighbours of the 42-year-old in Oroklini, nursing and other staff of the hospital where he is being treated, while other surveillance circuits will also be examined.

The suspect’s defence attorney also said that according to what was mentioned in the detention request for his client, the 31-year-old had stated in his voluntary statement to the police that on December 5 he went with the 35-year-old to the 34-year-old’s house in Ayia Napa.

The 35-year-old got out of the car, entered the suspect’s house and after a while came out holding money.

However, the defence attempted to present an alibi for the 34-year-old, saying that their client authorised them to tell the court, he had been an Opap betting shop in Sotira on December 5 with others.

He called on police to go to the shop to take statements from clients and the owners and take the CCTV footage outside his house in Ayia Napa to corroborate the 31-year-old’s claim.

The suspect’s defence attorney said that the detention of his client is not justified, with the case investigator responding that there is the written statement of the 31-year-old implicating the 34-year-old in the case.

On their part, the prosecution told the court that the 31-year-old suspect gave testimony, in which the 34-year-old suspect is named as the person who had handed over the weapons to carry out the attempted murder and the sum of €20,000.