These testimonies of the protected witnesses, which are part of the case file, were also the “key” to the dismantling of the criminal organization of hooligans.
The works and days of the leading members of the criminal organization
The witness “67B” describes that the leading members of the organized and persecuted in the current investigation, had complete freedom of movement as: “We see them all together sitting down, i.e. in a place where spectators are not allowed to enter but only accredited persons and they they have a card. They also move freely in all areas of the stadiums without restriction, i.e. they enter any gate they want during the match, roam around the pitch and some of them also give orders to the organizer who conveys them to the organized fans with the duduka”.
Regarding the alleged leader of “Gate 7”, he claims that he is the one who has the absolute command while he does not hesitate to act against those who question him: “I have seen him enter the bellows at the Karaiskaki stadium. He also gives the orders to the organizer and when some people from the platform do not obey his orders, he gathers a group of his own people and they trample and beat the people who do not obey.”
According to the testimony of the witness, several of the pretending to be a leading team, inciting incidents and giving orders for attacks on fans of other teams. As an example, he mentions the attack against OFI friends in January 2023 shortly before the start of the match between Cretans and Olympiakos at the Karaiskaki stadium: “He used a pen flare, which accidentally hit an Olympiakos fan who was accompanying two or three children. When the fan reacted, he went and hit him.”
How the “machine of violence” of the hooligans worked in “Melina Merkouri”
The episodes outside the closed “Melina Merkouri” were organized with a specific plan and determination.
The hooligans moved with a convoy of motorbikes and cars towards Neo Faliro and the closed “Melina Merkouri”. The hooligans allegedly carried with them in the convoy the explosive Molotov cocktails, naval flares, flares and other munitions used during the incidents in Renti.
According to the ERT report shown on the news bulletin, the cars were all rented with the munitions inside the cars with the two-wheelers next to them, effectively creating a security cordon.
At the moment when the order was given for the hooligans to leave the gym, the third protected witness “67F” describes: “At the end of the 1st set I saw an anabambula on the court and I saw people wearing helmets, masks, full faces and bone gloves. There were about 80 people and they came out some from the left and others from the right. While everyone was getting dressed, I saw a man dressed in black with covered features talking on his cell phone and shouting “let’s go”.
According to the testimony of the witness, those who took part in the incidents were trying to eliminate evidence that could incriminate them: “As soon as it was learned that we would be taken from the stable, they started jumping into the stadium. Some vandalized the canteen causing damage and taking products and some set fire to the toilets burning clothes,” he said.
The photographic documents shown on the ERT news bulletin show the path followed by the group of hooligans from inside the stadium to the point where the MAT platoon was located, as well as snapshots of the fierce attacks with improvised explosive devices.
Apostolos Lytras, the defendant’s lawyer, said: “It is not possible now to talk about a 165-person criminal organization. As for my own principal, the 16-year-old, he had absolutely nothing to do with the episodes. In fact, he didn’t leave the field at all.”
The police force seems to have always been the target of hooligans. The protected witness “67E” describes an incident where they were looking for squads to unleash his dehumanization: “On December 5, 2022 at SEF, I heard that Olympiakos fans dressed as Santa Clauses and because there was no squad at the stadium, they went to the TV station SKAI to find a platoon to attack, as they did by throwing Molotov cocktails and naval flares.”
Speaking to SKAI, the Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis said: “The investigation will now take things further because a police investigation cannot reach the full investigation, it documents, it gives it to the justice system and it starts it, it continues it. The witnesses recognize specific people of the so-called leadership group as being at the scene of the Rentis incidents and refer to a number of other incidents in the past with the defendants as protagonists.”
See in the following video the report that was shown on the main news bulletin of ERT:
New documents and talks about the fan criminal organization
In the meantime, new documents from closed-circuit cameras are being published that record the movements of the young people attacking with flares and molotov cocktails against the MAT.
From the stick of the anonymous witness, the police got their hands on photographic material from inside the closed “Melina Merkouri” gymnasium. Through these images, the police were able to identify both the leaders and the so-called “little ones” who carried out the orders to start the episodes.
According to the police, the “little ones” who are between the ages of 16 and 24 are the ones who, after being arrested, were afraid and “broke” as a result of giving information about the activities of the criminal organization.
“The command is done by some people who we call ‘big’, because they have criminal records and a big name at gate 7. I threw a stone and a stick at the police. I did it more to show that I’m doing something too. I apologise. I’m young and I thought that I would look like a dude too,” said a 19-year-old defendant.
During the talks a young man who was recently recruited and involved in the incidents is said to be worried about being arrested. See below the revealing dialogue he had with one of his girlfriends.
Friend: Since he died and they said who threw the flare, why should you go to jail?
Accused: Because those who will be arrested, will be condemned as a criminal organization.
Friend: And how will they prove that you are in the criminal organization?
Accused: I had some gloves, I burned them in the toilets.
Some of the defendants appear to mock the possibility of some being sent to prison as a criminal organization.
Defendant 1: M… I will spend 35 years in prison
Accused 2: No really, I’ll be fifteen.
Defendant 1: They made it a criminal organization, he says.
Accused 2: At least we’re a big group. We are all under twenty one.
Defendant 1: Wow, come Avlona and hang out with me.
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Tags: Lyggeridis murder protected witnesses burn leading members criminal organization
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