Konstantinos Katsifas: No decision 5.5 years after his murder – “My son would never kill himself for anyone…” says his mother

The reason for the case of the murder of Constantinos Katsifa, who, on October 28, 2018, was shot dead by the Albanian Special Forces RENEA in the village of Vouliarates.

Five and a half years later, the family of the 35-year-old expatriate is still waiting for the memory of their child to be vindicated.

“So many years have passed and we are still waiting for the real outcome of my child’s murder. Not the fake one he says about suicide, because my son would never kill himself for anyone,” says Konstantinou Katsifa’s mother, Vasiliki, who often calls the lawyers to find out where the case stands from a legal point of view.

Pending

In the Beleris case, the New Democracy MEP candidate has the right, after being sentenced to two years in prison, to file an appeal within 15 days, which will be heard by the same court. In the case of Constantinos Katsifas, the following is observed: The court of Argyrokastro had ruled that the expatriate’s death was the result of suicide, something which is stubbornly denied not only by the family but also by the Albanian community as a whole.

Moreover, according to the medical examiner Theodoros Vougiouklakis, who had macroscopically examined the body of the 35-year-old for just five minutes, the victim had two penetrating wounds near the heart. He received the said shots in a standing position from a powerful weapon and at close range, without any other sign of injury on his body, which proves that the elite Albanian Police, although excellent and well trained in such situations, did not attempt to immobilize him injuring him in non-vital parts of his body. Instead, they wanted Katsifa dead.

Appeal

The family of the murdered Konstantinos Katsifa responded to the decision of the Albanian court with an appeal. The Court of Appeal accepted it and the case returned to the Court of First Instance, which, however, decided for the second time that the death of the 35-year-old was the result of suicide. The family has appealed and is now awaiting a decision.

“The Court of First Instance has ruled that the death of Constantinos Katsifas is a suicide. We have appealed this decision and are awaiting the decision of the Court of Appeal. Of course, the family is absolutely convinced that this decision will be the same as the first one, that is, the Albanian court will rule that the murder of their child was suicide,” he told “ET.” on Sunday, the lawyer of the Katsifa family, Mr. Efthimios Navridis.

The family of Constantinos Katsifas, who have been waiting 5.5 years for justice, are determined to see the case through to the end. When the legal proceedings in Albania are completed and finalized there, the case will be turned to the Court of Human Rights, so that the murderers of Constantine will be tried.

WHAT HAPPENED

The argument, the shootings and the position of the police

On the morning of October 28, 2018, which was to be the last for Konstantinos Katsifa, the expatriate, according to his family, had an argument with an Albanian police officer serving in the area, who asked him why he had painted the Greek flag on the wall of the Greek school. After the fight, Katsifas left the square and returned with a modified Kalashnikov – and with binoculars – firing in the air to intimidate the Albanian policemen, who started shooting him with their service weapons.

At the mountain

After the shooting, Katsifas left, climbing towards the mountain of the village. The Albanians notified RENEA, the Special Forces Corps, which with a trained dog began searching for the expatriate. According to testimonies, the Special Forces arrived in Vouliarates in armor looking for the 35-year-old. A group of RENEA broke into the victim’s house and assaulted Katsifa’s mother demanding that she reveal her son’s whereabouts. She, of course, didn’t know the slightest about what had gone before. The rest of the Forces moved, with helicopter cover, towards Tsouklisa, looking for the traces of the 35-year-old accompanied by a special dog. When they found him, they killed him.

For its part, the Albanian Police reported that Katsifas got into an argument with the police and opened fire on them. After the exchange of gunfire, the expatriate fled to the nearby mountains and when he was spotted in a new exchange of fire, he fell dead.

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