Afghan boxer appears in court over killing of Scottish woman found in suitcase in Greece
Tribute flooded in for Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, whose remains were found in a suitcase in Athens
An Afghan boxer arrested over the murder of a Scottish woman found in a suitcase in Athens has appeared in a Greek court.
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Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, also known as Lisa, was found dead by a homeless man in a derelict building in the Kypseli area of the city on July 18.
Greek police launched an investigation along with UK and US authorities and announced that a 26-year-old man had been arrested.
He was later revealed to be Sharif Ahmadzai, who arrived at court for a hearing on Wednesday morning in an unmarked grey Hyundai i30 car, alongside a number of police officers.
He left in the same car about an hour later. It is understood he was assigned a court-appointed lawyer during the hearing, which took place in private.
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The court is located on the city's Evelpidon Street, just a few minutes' walk from where the charity worker’s body was found.
He faces a murder charge as well as allegations that he stole more than 10,000 euro from the victim’s bank accounts using her bank cards, police said.
He is expected to appear again for a further hearing on Thursday
The suspect left Afghanistan after being orphaned as a teenager, and was pictured earlier this week.
The authorities have not publicly confirmed his identity.
A tribute from the parish’s senior pastors, Andrew and Sue Owen, read: "Lisa will always be remembered for her unstoppable passion to help those who were less fortunate than herself.
"This passion and deep sense of calling sometimes took her to challenging places.“Lisa was determined not to leave this world the same way she found it."
They said their thoughts and prayers were with Ms Ross’s family, who had lost a beautiful daughter and sister.Ms Ross had also been a member of City on a Hill church, in Edinburgh, for 20 years.
Peter Anderson, a pastor, previously said she was a “precious” member of the congregation.
It comes as CCTV has emerged of a suspect appearing to walk down the street with a suitcase near where Ms Ross' body was found.
The video, released by Greek outlets, shows a man wheeling a suitcase while wearing a backpack.
Ms Ross is believed to have died between five and seven days before she was found, though someone was reportedly using her mobile phone to send messages purporting to be from Ms Ross.
The Hellenic Police, Greece’s national force, were able to identify her using fingerprints.
Ms Ross, who is understood to be from Edinburgh, entered Greece on June 26 and was initially staying with friends in Piraeus.
She is then said to have gone to meet American friends in another part of the Greek capital, but it is unclear if this ever happened.
A replica pistol and a knife were found at the suspect’s home and police have filed a case against him for manslaughter, robbery and violation of weapons laws.