NICOSIA - A defence witness in the murder trial of Andis Hadjicostis denied Wednesday that he had been bribed to give evidence. 
Panayiotis Karasavvaides from Piraeus, Greece, said he had been brought to Cyprus by defence lawyer Roberto Vrahimis to re-enact an alleged event presented to the court by prosecution witness Fanos Hadjigeorgiou, who confessed to being the getaway driver in the murder.
Hadjigeorgiou, who was initially charged but is now a prosecution witness under police protection, claimed that he disposed of a bag of clothes in the UN buffer zone on the night of the murder within a timeframe of approximately 15 minutes.
Karassavaides said that he completed the same route last Wednesday evening and that it had taken him 34’27.’’
During her cross-examination, prosecutor Elena Kleopas suggested that the witness had lied about visiting the area or if he had that he was bribed to give his testimony regarding the specific time needed to complete the task.
Kleopas added that the witness had been informed about Hadjigeorgiou’s testimony and the time in which he claimed he had completed the same route, in order to assure that his own re-enactment would take longer.
Karassavaides denied the accusations.
Defence lawyer Roberto Vrahimis, who invited Karassavaides to Cyprus as an expert witness said that the defence will present five or six more witnesses.
The trial will continue tomorrow (Thursday).
Elena Skordelli, her brother Tasos Krasopoulis, Grigoris Xenophontos and Andreas Gregoriou, who deny murdering the media tycoon, remain in custody.