A mixed jurist-juror appellate court in the central city of Lamia on Monday unanimously upheld an intentional homicide conviction against a former police special guard who shot and killed a 16-year-old Athens teen in December 2008, an incident that sparked major protests and even rioting in the Greek capital and other cities at the time.
The development means that the first instance ruling against the primary defendant, Epamidondas Korkoneas, remains unchanged.
Conversely, the court acquitted the other police guard accompanying Korkoneas, Vassilis Saraliotis, citing lack of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Korkoneas admitted to aiming and firing a single round on the evening of Dec. 6, 2008 during during a controversial patrol in the central Athens district of Exarchia. The victim, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, was hit in the chest by the round and died at the scene.
