With the phrase “besides being indicative, they are also dangerous,” the prosecutor of the Tribunal of Criminal Appeals of Thessaloniki, which consists of three people, demanded that 11 accused, members of the self-proclaimed group, be found guilty. “Guardians of the Constitution”for the unprecedented December 2021 high school principal kidnapping incident in Eginio Pieria due to the coronavirus prevention measures he implemented at the school.

Assessing the totality of evidence and legally substantiating his proposal, the prosecutor of the appellate instance requested that the defendants be found guilty of joint unlawful detention (on the transformation of the indictment from robbery), group crime, disruption of public service, violation of measures to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases, as well as for causing bodily harm and leakage of personal data (due to the video recording of their actions with a mobile phone).

The high school student was subjected to “humiliation”, was a “hostage” in the car, as he was “under the arbitrariness of the accused,” said, in particular, the prosecutor, speaking of “paranoia” and “schedule”. which continued into the courtroom. “This ‘dangerous criminal’ should have been handcuffed to be taken to the police station,” he commented during his speech, analyzing for each of them his participation in the controversial case.

The process continues with the purchases of defense lawyers, after which the verdict of the judges will follow.

According to the indictment, the defendants immobilized the suffering director upon his arrival at the school and handcuffed him, forcibly took him to the Eghini police station, where they were finally detained. Three of them are temporarily held in prisons, and among those brought to trial is a retired employee of EL.AS.

In their apologies, they themselves admitted that they were present at the incident, but denied the actions attributed to them, giving their own version of the reason for their presence at the school. Some spoke of “curiosity,” others of “school demand,” but the common denominator was their opposition to the current coronavirus measures. One of the defendants apologized and accused the media of exaggerating the incident and using it in favor of measures.

Source: RES-IPE