A Swedish kickboxer who is accused of being a hitman who was hired to kill an international drug smuggler in London on Christmas Eve 2019 has claimed he is the victim of a “set-up.”
Flamur Beqiri, 36, was shot eight times in the back as he returned to his home in Battersea, south London, with his girlfriend and young son on the evening of 24 December 2019.
Anis Hemissi, 24, and three other Swedes deny murdering Beqiri - who was known to friends as Alex - and two others plead not guilty to perverting the course of justice.
'Netflix and Chill' Plan
On Tuesday, 11 January, Hemissi told a jury at Southwark Crown Court he flew from Copenhagen to London on 20 December 2019 to "Netflix and chill" with a woman called Nadine, who he had been messaging for three months after she contacted him on Facebook.
Alex Beqiri
© Photo : Facebook
He claimed she told him he could stay at her friend’s apartment, in Oyster Wharf, Battersea, but she failed to show up and he flew home without ever meeting her.
His barrister, David Harounoff, asked him on Wednesday, 12 January, if he believed he was deliberately lured to London “for a purpose”.
Hemissi said: “When I came to the UK and I heard all the evidence I knew Nadine was involved and it was a set-up.”
But later, under cross examination by prosecutor Mark Heywood QC, Hemissi was asked why the jury had not been able to see the “hundreds” of messages on Facebook between himself and Nadine.
Hemissi said he had closed down his Facebook account in January 2020 because his friends were being hassled by Swedish journalists.
'Why Would I Lie?'
Mr Heywood said: “Nadine is a lie, isn’t she? She’s an untruth.”
“Why would I lie? I’m not lying,” Hemissi replied.
“That’s a question for others,” said Mr Heywood.
The prosecution claim this is Anis Hemissi wearing a latex mask disguise before the murder
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
Reason for Using Encrochat
Earlier Hemissi had explained why he had in his possession an Encrochat phone, which the court has been told are almost exclusively used by criminals wishing to communicate with each other using encryption.
Hemissi said he had been contacted, through a friend, who knew a man referred to as “Doc” who had access to supplies of a growth hormone drug called Janoxepin, which was popular with kickboxers and people in the mixed martial arts world.
He said Doc would only deal with him through Encrochat, which was why he had bought the device in June 2019.
Hemissi denied using it to communicate with those involved in the conspiracy to murder Beqiri.
The trial has heard that Beqiri was killed as part of a war between two Swedish underworld gangs, one led by Amir Mekky and one by Daniel Petrovski.
Hemissi, Estevan Pino-Munizaga, 35, Tobias Andersson, 32, and Bawer Karaer, 23, all deny murder.
Clifford Rollox, 31, and his friend Claude Castor, 21, deny perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues.