Quick trials, tougher penalties for football fans

Supreme Court Circular calls for tougher legal pressure on perpetrators of violence related to football fans.

Greece is still in shock from what happened this week murder of 19-year-old Alkis Campanos football hooligans.

Deputy Supreme Court Attorney Zacharias Kokkinakis issued a circular on Friday demanding that those involved in violence in sports be brought to justice within 30 days of their arrest.

The same circular stated that when multiple perpetrators are involved in a sporting violence incident, they should be investigated as to whether their actions constituted the formation of a criminal organization. He added that sentences should not be overturned on appeal.

Meanwhile, on Friday, police raided four fan associations in Attica and confiscated knives, helmets, bats and other items that could cause physical harm at the behest of prosecutor Konstantinos Spyropoulos, who launched an investigation into fan violence in the capital.

The move follows similar operations in Thessaloniki on Thursday, as part of an ongoing investigation into the killing of Alkis Campanos during a hooligan attack in the northern port city.

According to police sources, the raids began at a PAOK fan club on Halkokondili Street, near Omonia in central Athens, and continued throughout the day at fan associations of other teams.

Campanos and two of his friends were subjected to attacked by a group of at least 10 people armed with knives and mini-scythes early Tuesday morning on a street in the Harilaou district of eastern Thessaloniki.

The 23-year-old suspect, who had a history of similar abuse, was arrested and charged one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He was given until Monday to prepare his defense.

Another accomplice, a 20-year-old Albanian, fled to his homeland after a criminal case was opened against him. His data, as it turned out, is contained in the database of the security service. According to the police, this is a close friend. arrested, a member of the same fan club and in 2019 he was involved in a similar attack, near the site of Alkis’s death.

The place where 19-year-old Alkis Campanos was mortally wounded.

Meanwhile, two men arrested during police raids on fan clubs in Thessaloniki on Thursday were released pending trial on Friday after appearing before a criminal court. Men aged 36 and 43 are accused of illegal possession of weapons and items, including knives, crowbars, metal and wooden clubs, which are often used in hooligan actions. The 43-year-old was also charged with operating a fan club without a license.

In total, the police raided 13 fan clubs in and around Thessaloniki associated with various teams and confiscated dozens of items that could be used to inflict bodily harm.

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