The defendants were found guilty, three years after the murder Lyggeridi, two of the three people who were under “protection status.”

Questions arise from the finding that witnesses under “protection status” whose testimonies are “key” to the progress of the trial in the case of the murder of police officer Giorgos Lyggeridis, are also considered defendants.

This is because they will not be able to testify, since otherwise the proceedings could be annulled—three years after the bloody incidents outside the “Melina Merkouri” in Renti and with the hearing now halfway through.

This development was communicated to the court —following a request from the defense— by the Security Police, which, after the individuals arrested for the incidents were brought in, compiled the case file that was sent to the Prosecutor’s Office. It should be noted, however, that one of the protected witnesses, codenamed 67ST, will testify as scheduled at the start of the new judicial year in September.

A Shadowy Role

As for the proceedings inside the courtroom, yesterday a police officer, who was on duty with a riot police squad on the night of the incidents, testified that a high-ranking police official attempted, initially unsuccessfully, to override the order from GADA headquarters that no one was to leave the stadium.

“At one point, a person holding a walkie-talkie—we later realized it was the Piraeus police chief, though he was dressed in civilian clothes—brought a man over to leave, telling us ‘Let him go—he’s a journalist.’ “We asked him for his press ID and accreditation, but he didn’t have them, so we didn’t let him leave,” the witness noted.

Presiding Judge: What was the man who wanted to get out like?

Police Officer: Tall, well-built; he was wearing plain, casual clothes.

At around 4 a.m., the police officer described seeing the Piraeus police chief escort two people out of the stadium without checking their identification: “He approached us and took two young men, around 22–25 years old, who were standing outside the police van ready to be taken into custody. They were wearing gym clothes, not team uniforms. I was there when he let them through. He then took them on a different route and did not subject them to a search. They did not go with the others who were being put into the police van. And that’s how they left.”

Chair: How did he get past the police officers?

Police Officer: He told them, “Step aside,” and walked on. A woman behind me outside the stadium shouted, “Where are they going?” And he replied, “I know what I’m doing.”

Elsewhere in his testimony, the police officer stated that he heard over the radio that the police chief was preventing his colleagues from conducting checks on people leaving the stadium, in violation of the order issued by the chief of the Athens Police Department, a fact that other witnesses have also testified to.

In response to a question from the appellate judge regarding whether the police director was permitted to be there in plain clothes, the police witness clarified that all police officers, with the sole exception of those serving in the Security Division, are required to wear a uniform while on duty.

“Don’t speak…”

Also significant was the testimony of a fan, who was present at the stadium with a friend of his—who is now a defendant—and who stated that one month after the incidents and shortly before he was to testify to the Security Division, while he was at a game at SEF, he was approached by three hooded men who, visibly agitated, asked him if he had been at the “Melina Merkouri” stadium on the night of Lyggeridis’s murder. When he answered in the affirmative, they told him not to say anything about what he had seen or to say as little as possible—”advice” they were also giving to others inside the SEF.

Since, during yesterday’s proceedings as well, several of the fan witnesses cited memory lapses or recanted their preliminary statements, the plaintiffs’ attorneys asked the court, “Isn’t it time to look into” this phenomenon, hinting at possible blackmail.