Filenews 11 July 2023 - by Ioanna Mantzipia
September 14, 2023 is set for the start of the high-profile trial before the Permanent Assize Court of Nicosia for the murder of 31-year-old Angelos Pericleous, whose body has not yet been located despite sweeping searches carried out over the past two months.
During yesterday's proceedings, the 25-year-old hacker, his 72-year-old uncle and the 59-year-old mother of the former, replied by not admitting to the charges brought against them by the representative of the Prosecution, Christia Kythreotou, with the Court setting the start of the hearing in September.
The multi-page indictment includes charges of premeditated murder, possession of a firearm, possession of explosives, arson of a vehicle, destruction of evidence, aiding and abetting the commission of a felony of arson, aiding and abetting the commission of the 71-year-old uncle and the 59-year-old and attempting to influence a police investigation into the hacker's mother. The 25-year-old accused hacker also faces three counts of possession and use of a quantity of cannabis.
The 59-year-old is accused of receiving clothes with blood from her 25-year-old son and keeping them so that the latter could destroy them at a later time, while in a statement she gave to the ICF of Limassol, she tried to give her son an alibi, falsely stating that on the night of April 20 until the morning of the 21st, he had slept in their house in Nicosia.
Yesterday, the 71-year-old's defence lawyer objected to his client's further detention with the Assize Court rejecting it, ordering that he continue to be detained as an undertrial in Central Prison.
It is recalled that during the referral process of the case, the prosecutor made reference to the witness material and specifically to the testimony of the 71-year-old uncle, who had revealed to the investigators of the ICF Limassol that his nephew had confided in him that he killed the victim, chopped him up and then buried him in a pit that he had dug days earlier. Among other things, the 71-year-old allegedly told them, "Don't look for Angel, he's a partisan."
Despite sweeping searches in the area between Mari and Vasilikos, where the 31-year-old is believed to have been murdered and buried, to date nothing has been found in relation to the victim, apart from important evidence such as tools purchased by the hacker on April 15 and 18. The victim's relations with the accused hacker were confrontational, since the former stole €110,000, a Rolex watch and beat him up.
