The Supreme Court prosecutor was given a dossier containing about 200 names of inveterate hooligans operating in all groups nationwide to the Supreme Court prosecutor.
“The list consists of citizens of all nationalities and operating throughout the country,” said the Minister of Citizen Protection. In the case handed over to Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgia Adelini, there are many cases fandom (from the English fandom, literally “community of fans”, fans of sports clubs) and not only violence, episodes that occurred over the past year. Data is also provided on the actions of many individuals not only over the past year, but also over time since 2007.
“There are persons,” Mr. Vrutsis clarified, “who are involved in many cases and over a long period of time, i.e. who even reach the point of murder of Philopoulos (Panathinaikos fan Michalis Philopoulos in 2007 in Peania, Attica)” Regarding the list of “tough” hooligans, the Minister of Citizen Protection said they were “targeted” based on information available to police authorities. Available data ranks them as “high risk” in terms of fandom violence.
The data presented also concerns the criminal activities of the defendants directly related to ordinary crimes, such as extortion, drugs, racketeering, protection racket, etc. In particular, Deputy Minister of Sports Yiannis Vroutsis added that in the case referred to the prosecutor’s office there are also complaints of beatings (threats) received by sports referees and journalists, which are reported from time to time by PSAT (Panhellenic Sports Press Association). In addition, the Minister of Citizen Protection Yiannis Ikonomou clarified that the data presented are indicative in nature, since others will be provided by the competent authorities at the request of the prosecutor’s office.”
Let us recall that yesterday government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said that the ministers would provide Ms. Adelini with all the information available to the authorities for assessment in the context of the investigative process, thereby informing the prosecutor’s office of the Supreme Court that the Greek state is not going to show tolerance to such phenomena. In addition, Mr. Marinakis noted that during his visit to the prosecutor’s office of the Supreme Court, on behalf of the government, he will demand an increase in the level of criminal penalties and a thorough investigation into all cases of sports violence and corruption in order to find the perpetrators.
“Greece’s independent judiciary will investigate the extent to which gangs or criminal organizations operate in the wider area of professional sports. Who finances, encourages or facilitates this criminal activity. If there are those who, with the help of what they support, publicly commit crimes related to incitement to illegal actions. We will not allow fan revelry to continue and others to pay for their criminal behavior. It is extremely important to put an end to the criminal activities of organized communities and groups,” emphasized Mr. Marinakis.
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