With the confession of the 12th and last accused was concluded before him Mixed Jury Trial in Thessaloniki, evidence in a lawsuit over the high-profile fan incident that claimed the life of Alkis Campanos, in the early hours of February 1, 2022 in the Harilau area. The trial was postponed and will continue on June 2 at the suggestion of the prosecutor.

The ‘curtain’ of apology fell on the 23-year-old driver of the third car, who was the last to be arrested 14 days after the murder, when he voluntarily turned himself in to police. The defendant claimed that he did not get out of the car at all, remaining in the driver’s seat throughout the disputed incident.

“I didn’t mean to be cowardly”

When he apologized, he himself had concerns about “whether I’m going to fight some people who haven’t done anything to me.” However, he agreed to hand over his three co-defendants when asked about it by his friend, the 9th accused, with whom he has been friends since his studies in Athens. “He asked me if I was driving. Unfortunately, I agreed. I didn’t mean to seem like a coward. I agreed and it’s my fault. I went down to the car and waited for them” said the 23-year-old civil engineer. According to what he said, at that time he did not see anyone with weapons in their hands, as he thought that they were going to “argue” with “hands”. “I saw the objects when they got out of the car,” he said and added that the sight of the weapon made him alarmed and scared.

He himself apologized for not knowing what was happening at the crime scene because he was driving a little further. “I didn’t know what was going on, I couldn’t leave my friend behind. I thought whether I should leave or not. he continued, and at another point and in response to a related court question about the involvement of others in the episode, said “I wish I could see so I could know and tell you.”

“I called them and cursed them”

According to what he said, when the three returned to the car (pos. 9, 10 and 11), they were upset and he asked them what had happened. “They told me that they had a knife and that they were beating me. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I called them, I cursed them. They told me where to go. I wanted to leave them. I left them and went home,” he said. “It was the worst feeling I have ever experienced in my life. I was just weighed down by the thought that I was there,” he continued, apologizing to Alki’s family.

When asked by the prosecutor why he deleted some calls on his mobile phone, he said that he did it because of the fear that overwhelmed him, and about the fact that his car was washed when the police searched it, he replied that it was official car (of my father’s) and “every ten days they take it to the car wash.” Regarding the knife found in the glove compartment of his car, he noted that he uses it when he goes fishing.

Source: APE/MEB