The investigation to establish whether or not there were police officers who, on the fateful night of Giorgos Lyggeridis’ injury, let suspects leave the stadium in order not to be brought in by the police forces, ended in a stalemate.
As he had written on January 4, 2024 iEidiseis (HERE), this is a serious issue that had arisen during a broad meeting that had taken place at the Ministry of Citizen Protection shortly after the sad attack outside the closed gym in Rentis.
During the meeting on the 7th floor of Katehaki Avenue, a participating police officer protested in a very strong tone about the fact that some of his colleagues (who do not belong to the MAT) they let suspects off the fieldwithout being checked, while 31-year-old Giorgos Lyggeridis was fighting to stay alive.
The specific police officer allegedly supported, in the presence of many senior and top officers of the Hellenic Police. but also officials of Katehaki Avenue, that while the Police were sealing off the stadium in order to make the arrests and find the perpetrators, some police officers let the fans leave by ordering the… “to him, he’s mine” logic.
The specific complaint was brought to the attention of the Sub-Directorate for Combating Violence in Sports Venues, which undertook the investigation into the murder of Giorgos Lyggeridis. The result was to ask relevant questions in the context of the statements received from police officers who were present at the incidents in Rentis and at the stadium, but also from superior officers who had the supervision of the measures.
Despite the efforts made to shed light on this unknown aspect of the case, there have been no statements that “point” to the police as being responsible for the suspects’ escape.
Well informed source of it iEidiseis from the Ministry of Citizen Protection notes that “from the beginning there was this very unpleasant information. As part of the investigation, police were called who might know what happened. However, no one testified that an officer or officers let the suspects go. Just because they didn’t file it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. But the point is what it turns out to be.
In each case Police officers who might know what happened were urged, in order to tell the truth. If the offense of dereliction of duty were to arise, relevant material would be forwarded to the Court of Justice so that those responsible could be prosecuted. However, this did not occur even though a number of depositions were taken.
In any case, copies of the case file will be forwarded to the relevant Directorate investigating any disciplinary offences, although it is extremely unlikely that anything will come of this material.
On the fateful night there were some hooligans who managed in various ways to leave the stadium and not be among the approximately 400 brought in. However, it is considered certain that these people, who managed to escape on the fateful night, are included among the accused. In other words, they were not spared because they managed to disappear».
