Murder suspect remanded, says ‘knows nothing’

A 31-year-old man was remanded in police custody for eight days on Sunday by Limassol district court after he was arrested the previous days in connection with the murder of businessman Stavros Demosthenous in Limassol last month.

He is the ninth person arrested in connection with the killing.

The 31-year-old was arrested at around 4pm in Limassol on Saturday after a warrant was issued against him.

He is thought to be a member of the same family as the two men arrested on Friday in Thessaloniki.

Those two are believed to have left the island from Kyrenia, from where they went to Turkey and then Thessaloniki. The car they are believed to have travelled to the north in reportedly belongs to the 31-year-old.

When he was read out the charges he faces, the latest suspect reportedly said “I don’t know anything”.

He told police on October 18, the day after the murder, he crossed to the north alone and boarded a boat for Turkey, from where he drove to Thessaloniki for work reasons, and ran into one of the two 28-year-old arrested in Greece by chance.

Demosthenous was shot 500m from his home on October 17 when he was the passenger in a car being driven by his 18-year-old son. The shooter was in a van in front of his car.

The son carried on driving but was involved in a traffic accident on the highway at which point he flagged down another car, the driver of which took his 49-year-old father to Limassol hospital, where his death was diagnosed.

The remaining arrests are a 51-year-old man, a 44-year-old man, a 30-year-old inmate, a 58-year-old man, a 39-year-old Greek national, and a 30-year-old man serving a sentence for drug offences.

The 39-year-old Greek man has been released but the others all remain in custody.