Champions League: Greek authorities order 105 football fans be detained pending trial after fatal clash
- The 102 Croat citizens and 3 Greeks have all denied any culpability in the fatal stabbing last Monday of AEK Athens supporter Michalis Katsouris
- Prosecutors slapped blanket charges, a total of 11, on the 105 fans. The charges include premeditated murder and membership of a criminal organisation
All 105 football fans suspected of being involved in extensive clashes in the Greek capital that ended in the death of a 29-year-old AEK Athens supporter have been ordered to be detained pending their trial, authorities said on Sunday.
Three examining magistrates and two prosecutors questioned the detained fans in batches – 30 on Friday, 40 on Saturday and 35 on Sunday – and decided each day whether to detain them pending trial. One suspect, who is hospitalised under guard, gave a deposition to a visiting magistrate.
The 102 Croat citizens and 3 Greeks have all denied any culpability in the fatal stabbing of Michalis Katsouris.
He died from a stab wound and 10 others were injured when scores of Croatian supporters wielding wooden clubs and metal bats attacked bystanders outside AEK’s Opap Arena last Monday, police said.
Authorities will be able to search mobile phone signals at the two sites of the clashes – outside AEK’s stadium and at a metro station – to determine any other involvement.
1 man dead, 5 in custody after violence erupts at Athens football match
Prosecutors slapped blanket charges, a total of 11, on the 105 fans. Four of the charges are felonies – including premeditated murder and membership of a criminal organisation – and the rest misdemeanours.
The suspects will be dispersed among several prisons across the country.
Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, will meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday morning. They will then both meet ministers, the head of Greece’s Football Federation and the owners of the four largest soccer clubs – AEK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and PAOK Thessaloniki.
Also on Wednesday, the Uefa Super Cup final between Manchester City and Sevilla will be held at Olympiakos’ stadium near Piraeus.
