Salahuddin S., a Bangladeshi national, maintains his innocence in relation to the alleged crimes, according to his lawyer, Athina Fundotou. The 32-year-old man considered the primary suspect in the murder of Anastazja Rubińska, a 27-year-old Polish woman on the Greek island of Kos, underwent several hours of questioning yesterday.
The suspect, who stands accused of abduction, rape, and premeditated murder of Anastazja, appeared in court in Kos yesterday morning. He provided further testimony before leaving the courthouse a few hours later, returning to custody.
Emphasizing his client’s denial of guilt, the defense lawyer highlighted that Salahuddin S. does not admit to the charges against him. Zafiris Drosos, the court-appointed lawyer, withdrew from the case after the suspect was charged with rape last Friday.
Evidence collected by the police, including surveillance camera footage and phone records of the accused and the victim, points to his responsibility for the murder of the Polish woman.
New developments in the case
CNN Greece has also reported that the police are searching for a second phone, which likely belonged to the accused.
Two days ago, Greek media reported that investigators managed to recover a portion of the data from the suspect’s phone. Prior reports had suggested that the 32-year-old sent messages to his friends on the night of the incident, but he had allegedly deleted them from his device.
Among the retrieved data was a text message, as quoted by the dimokratia.gr portal, in which the suspect wrote to his friends in Italy, “I have done something terrible and must leave Greece.” It has been revealed that he had purchased a plane ticket to Italy following the disappearance of the Polish woman, without informing even his acquaintances.
According to a Greek police officer interviewed by PAP, the Bangladeshi man could face a life sentence for the murder. However, it is deemed unlikely that he will be extradited to Poland, as the crime was committed within Greek territory.
The Polish Press Agency (PAP), citing a source on the island, disclosed that the 32-year-old suspect would be transferred to a prison off the island in the coming days. Subsequently, his trial will commence, with a theoretical duration of several months, as indicated by the PAP source.
The ongoing investigation
Anastazja Rubińska had been employed at a five-star hotel on Kos since May, alongside her partner. The couple had been together for a decade and had previously worked in the Netherlands, France, and Portugal. The 27-year-old went missing on Monday, June 12.
On that day, Anastazja decided to spend her Monday evening near Marmari Beach. At approximately 10:30 PM, she called her partner, informing him that she was consuming alcohol and would be driven back to the hotel by an acquaintance on a motorcycle. She then sent her location to her partner, requesting to be picked up.
Unfortunately, the couple never reunited, and her partner was unable to reach her. The trail went cold. Witnesses claimed to have seen the Polish woman purchasing alcohol at a store in Marmari, where several men joined her. She then departed on a motorcycle with one of them.
Initially, the police detained five individuals of Bangladeshi and Pakistani citizenship. Following questioning, four were subsequently released, while the 32-year-old Bangladeshi man remained in custody. During the search, it was discovered that he had purchased a flight ticket to Italy after the Polish woman’s disappearance, without informing his acquaintances.
On Sunday, June 18, Greek media reported the discovery of the 27-year-old Polish woman’s body. The remains were found around 7 PM local time, approximately one kilometer from the residence of Salahuddin S., where he had been previously apprehended. The location was approximately 500 meters from where the victim’s cell phone was found.
The Bangladeshi suspect has been charged with three offenses, although the investigation is hindered by the deletion of various data from the woman’s phone on the night of the murder. The phone itself was discovered in an abandoned building, separate from the victim’s body, which had been discarded elsewhere. Authorities have confirmed the removal of the SIM card from the phone.