A foreigner spent 2 months in prison because of… a namesake

A 50-year-old German spent more than two months in prison due to data matching his namesake.

An incredible case of unfair imprisonment has been uncovered on the island of Kos, where a German man remained imprisoned for 69 days due to… a coincidence! The man, after being acquitted of drug trafficking charges, filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for his wrongful detention.

In particular, the German asks the court to determine the amount of compensation in the amount of 50 euros per day, in connection with the inexcusable negligence shown by the Greek prosecutors and his vulnerable position (due to his undetermined place of residence). The case will be heard at the Unified Court of Appeal of the Dodecanese on March 11, 2024.

By a decision of the Single Criminal Court of Appeal of the Dodecanese on September 18, 2023, the man was acquitted of the previously charged drug trafficking charges. It was proven that he was arrested and detained due to a coincidence.

On June 18, 2023, the man was arrested and detained on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in the name of his namesake (other details unknown). However From the first moment of his arrest, he protested, but due to his inability to communicate in Greek and the lack of a lawyer, he was unable to justify himself.

The man complains that no one noticed or figured out the correspondence between the two surnames – his and the real criminal. In particular, the arrest warrant was issued by the investigator Kosa without any other identifying information other than his name, since the applicant was not aware of any other information.

His last name is actually quite common in Germany. The German emphasizes that his own last name is written with two FF and two NN, and the real accused in the case appears with the same name, but without double letters.

The man complains that, despite his protests, no one noticed or corrected the above discrepancies. But now he has evidence that speaks beyond any doubt about his innocence. This is an extract from the guest book of the hotel, which was given to him after the investigation by the prosecution witness, and from the document it is clear that the year of birth in the case is 1984, and his own year of birth is 1974.

As a result of consistent errors and omissions by the Greek prosecutors, he was unjustly detained for a total of 69 days, that is, from the moment of his arrest on June 18, 2023 until his release from prison on August 25, 2023. The Dodecanese Court of Appeal found him guilty of transporting a parcel containing drugs from Athens to the island on the island of Tigaki Kos between July 23, 2007 and September 1, 2007.

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