Murder of Alkis Kampanos: 12 PAOK supporters at Thessaloniki Court of Appeals
The case of the murder of 19-year-old Alkis Kampanos is being heard at the Mixed Jury Court of Appeals in Thessaloniki. Twelve PAOK supporters are in the dock, seven of whom have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Thessaloniki Court of Appeals: Second-instance trial begins for Alkis Kampanos
Before the Mixed Jury Court of Appeals in Thessaloniki, the murder case of 19-year-old Alkis Kampanos is being heard today. He lost his life in the Charilao district on 1 February 2022, a victim of football fan violence. According to the Newspaper of Editors, twelve young PAOK supporters will sit in the dock.
Seven of the defendants have already been sentenced to life imprisonment, as well as additional lengthy prison sentences, as accomplices in homicide with possible intent. The remaining five have been sentenced to temporary prison sentences as ordinary accomplices in the same act.
The second-instance proceedings — provided it is declared open, following two adjournments in January and November of last year — will begin for most defendants from scratch. The Court of Appeals is not bound by the verdict of the first-instance Mixed Jury Court of Thessaloniki.
The grounds for the appeal was the first-instance court's decision to change the characterisation of the act from homicide with direct intent to homicide with possible intent. Nikolos Kallidis, the former head of the Prosecutor's Office at the Thessaloniki Court of Appeals, filed an appeal in July 2023, a few days after the conclusion of the first-instance trial, seeking harsher sentences.
The senior prosecution official considered that the defendants should have been convicted of homicide with direct intent, as provided by the original charges. For three of the defendants, he also sought more serious characterisations: one to be tried for moral authorship and the other two for complicity in homicide with direct intent. For two defendants, the appeal does not apply, with the result that only for them does the principle of non-aggravation of their position apply.
The indictment includes, in addition to Alkis's murder, the acts directed against his two friends during the same attack.
In advance of the second-instance trial, a meeting was held in recent days at the Thessaloniki Courthouse with representatives of the judicial and police authorities. At the meeting, security issues both inside and outside the courtroom were examined, as well as the distribution of seats for those participating in the proceedings.
Source: Efimerida ton Syntakton