Katsouri murder: The 35-year-old fan who was arrested is his friend – “I had a knife with me but I lost it during the incidents”

A new DNA comparison sheds light on the case of the murder of Michalis Katsouris.

A 35-year-old fan who was injured in the death row attack at the New Philadelphia stadium was arrested Thursday by officers of the Sports Violence Directorate and is expected to be questioned again in the coming days by authorities to determine if he was involved in the fatal injury to the 29-year-old AEK fan.

The 35-year-old’s DNA is to be compared with the “orphaned” sample, which was found on a knife from the scene of the fight where Michalis Katsouri’s blood was also found.

The arrest of the 35-year-old, who has been transferred to Nafplion prisons, took place in the Evelpidon courts, where he was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails during the bloody fight at the AEK stadium. A conviction was pending against him for a prison sentence of 12 twelve months and a fine of 700 euros, due to his participation in incidents, which had erupted on the sidelines of the cup final in Volos, between AEK and PAOK. During his arrest, he allegedly told police that on the night of the murderous attack in New Philadelphia, he had a knife in his possession, which he lost at the time of the incident.

The fan in the red shirt
“I am a friend of Michalis, they hit me on the head with a bat and broke my arm and leg.” This is what the 35-year-old AEK fan reportedly stated in the indictment in support of the charge against unknown perpetrators, filed last August. Security cameras had captured him on the night of the attack running wearing a red shirt, next to Michalis Katsouris, at the time of the attack by the death squad of the hooligans of Dinamo Zagreb and Panathinaikos.

The 35-year-old was classified as a “key witness” and during his examination by the authorities, he claimed that he was next to the 29-year-old at the time of his fatal injury.

According to what he had described to the police, at least four people, with their facial features covered, hit both him and Michalis with clubs and bats, while one of them, who wore the insignia of the Croatian team , stabbed the 29-year-old in the arm.

Asked about the identity of the assailant, the 35-year-old claimed that he could not make out the face as he was being hit on the head. In another part of his examination, he described how he was able to walk away from the scene of the fight together with Michalis Katsouris when a flare went off, leaving the Croatian hooligans confused.

In parallel with the examination of the 35-year-old, all the remanded accused for their participation in the bloody attack of last August, are expected to appear in the next period for additional testimony, before the investigative authorities, after the completion of the control of the digital evidence, by the Croats arrested .

Source: The Toc