Supreme Court reviewing release of Korkoneas

Greece’s Supreme Court is reviewing a decision by an appeals court in Lamia, central Greece, that reduced the conviction of police special guard Epaminondas Korkoneas for the 2008 deadly shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos from life to 13 years.

That ruling led to Korkoneas’ release on Tuesday from the high-security prison in Domokos, near Lamia, as he had already served 11 years of his life sentence in addition to the time he spent in prison pending his initial trial and conviction.

The ruling was issued on the basis of the new legal code which came into effect on July 1.

However, yesterday the Supreme Court requested a certified copy of the ruling issued by the Lamia court. Should the Supreme Court appeal the decision, the trial will be repeated.

A demonstration against Korkoneas’ release was held on Wednesday in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia at the Grigoropoulos memorial. The otherwise peaceful protest was however marred by violence when some 30 hooded individuals clashed with police. The assailants hurled Molotov cocktails, rocks, and tables and chairs from nearby bars at a riot police squad stationed outside the offices of the PASOK party on Harilaou Trikoupi Street. No injuries were reported and two people were arrested over the incident.

Korkoneas shot and killed Grigoropoulos during a verbal altercation with the 15-yearold and a group of his friends as they were hanging out in the popular neighborhood of Exarchia.

According to the case file, Korkoneas fired twice with his revolver in the direction of the group and one of the bullets rebounded off a cement structure and hit Grigoropoulos in the chest, killing him instantly. His death sparked days of street riots and vandalism in Athens.