Hadjicostis Murder Trial Delayed

Prosecutor Savvas Matsas has requested a two-day delay in the start of Andy Hadjicostis' murder trial in order to consult with the doctors of one of the main suspects, Andreas Gregoriou.

Originally scheduled to start today, the trial is now set to start Wednesday, February 24th, while Matsas speaks with Andreas Gregorious' doctor, said a police spokesman. Gregoriou has been in hospital since December 25th, 2009, suffering from injuries sustained when a car bomb exploded nearby while he and his brother were walking in the village of Tseri. The bomb was triggered by remote control, said police at the time.

Two other suspects, Elena Skordelli and Tassos Krassopoulis, were brought from Nicosia Central Prisons and appeared in court this morning.

DIAS Media group CEO Andy Hadjicostis was shot in cold blood by a man with a shotgun on the night of January 11th. The prosecution allege that Skordelli and her brother Krassopoulis hired Andreas Gregoriou and Gregoris Xenophontos to arrange the murder of Hadjicostis. Their motive is alleged to be revenge and control over Sigma TV, in which Skordelli has a 20 percent stake. The evidence is based on the testimony of another suspect, Theophanis Hadjigeorgiou, who made a full confession and is currently in the witness protection programme. The man thought to be the shooter, Gregoris Xenophontos, is still at large, with European and international arrest warrants on his head.