The parents of the child have given themselves over to the struggle to identify those responsible for the death of their 20-year-old son, who was hospitalized in the so-called “pink ward” of the Department of Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation of Disabled Children “Agios Dimitrios” in Thessaloniki. .

Paris, 20, died on November 28, 2021 after being severely beaten, with some staff at the facility claiming to the child’s parents that the cause of death was a slipper hit on the head with other food. A statement that was never accepted by the parents of a 20-year-old teenager, who from the very beginning “shouted” that it was not the prisoner who was to blame for the death of their son, but the caretaker of the institution.

In fact, February 2022 cathimerini.grwith extensive reporting presented only evidence that “showed” that the employee was allegedly responsible for the death of the child who beat him up and then tried to cover up the incident.

Now Pari’s parents believe that their struggle was successful, and this is due to the fact that in previous days the prosecutor’s office of Thessaloniki brought the person involved in the case to criminal responsibility for inflicting fatal bodily harm on a weak person. With regard to the institution where the child was treated, after an investigation by the National Transparency Authority (NDA), many omissions and violations were found in its work, as a result of which all members of the institution’s administration were resigned. requested (and accepted) to facilitate the research process.

“The institution operated a system of concealment”

Latest developments Pari’s father spoke to kathimerini.gr emphasizing that the child’s parents were initially sure that not a prisoner, but an employee of the institution was behind his death.

“From the very beginning, we were sure that this was not an accident or an incident between Paris and any food. We had information from the facility and from some other employees that this was the result of an aggressive behavior by an employee who had just taken a shift and wanted to be left alone, and Paris harassed him, resulting in him being beaten very badly. A number of other incidents followed. He tried to hide it and intimidated others into not saying anything. He left the institution at that time, and thanks to Mrs. Domna Mikhailid, who probably felt that something else had happened, we also officially learned that it had happened,” he said.

At the same time, the father of a 20-year-old teenager emphasized that the most outrageous thing was that the staff of the institution tried to hide it.
“There was a cover-up system, and later other incidents became known. As for Paris, they thought the blow might not be fatal, so they left him to give him first aid at the facility while Paris was throwing up. They delayed sending him to the hospital and said that the child was hit with a slipper by another gourmet, and therefore he had blood on his face. Of course, we later learned that this was the fault of the alleged perpetrator himself. During the beating, he picked up another prisoner who was more nervous and forced him to hit him with a slipper, inviting others to watch, trying to hide the fact that he hit him. Now that a criminal case has been opened, we feel a little justification,” he concluded.

“Guilty and those who tried to hide it”

For his part, the lawyer of the Pari family, Mr. Dimitris Golemis, told kathimerini.gr that, in addition to the perpetrator, the responsibility of those whose inaction created the conditions for this tragedy will also be charged.

“As soon as the board of the institution changes, we will try to contact the new council. In addition to bringing the perpetrators to justice, responsibility will also be sought for those who, by their omissions before the incident, created the conditions for the existence of this tragedy, and after the incident tried to hide it.”