Sharif Ahmadzai, the 26-year-old Afghan national and champion boxer accused of murdering Elisabeth-Jane Ross, the 38-year-old British woman whose body was found inside a suitcase in an abandoned building in Kypseli, is currently facing the investigating magistrate at this hour to give his testimony.

Ahmadzai was transferred yesterday to the courts at the former Evelpidon Military Academy, the complex that houses Athens’ criminal courts, where the prosecutor brought charges against him for murder, robbery and violations of firearms legislation.

He then requested and was granted an extension until today to prepare his testimony, which, according to reports, is expected to be submitted in the form of a written defence statement.

Ahmadzai denies the charges

The 26-year-old boxer denies the murder charge, maintaining that he found Ross dead in the bathroom, panicked, and decided to put her body in a suitcase as a result.

In the statement he gave to police, he described the events of the night of 15 July at the flat where the victim was staying, saying that when he went into the bathroom, she was “lying on the floor with what looked like water coming out of her mouth. I spoke to her two or three times but she didn’t answer. I froze, my legs gave way.”

During the preliminary investigation, the defendant also referred to the role of an elderly man he says he met by chance at a bus stop shortly after leaving the flat. He claims he asked the man what he should do if he found a dead person in his home, and that the man, who told him he worked at a hospital and knew about such matters, urged him to remove the body from the flat because he would “get into trouble” otherwise.

Ahmadzai also admitted to taking Ross’s mobile phone and sending a message to her relatives intended to mislead them into believing she was still alive.

He further stated that he took her bank card in order to give money to the elderly man, whom he met again the following day outside the abandoned building on Evelpidon Street, both to dispose of the suitcase and to buy his silence.