‘The beating and torture of Vasilis Maggos are a single case,’ he stressed, citing the minutes of the first trial and a ruling by the Volos Council of Misdemeanours, while setting out the course of the judicial investigation.

‘In his complaint of 16 June 2020, he described his beating outside the Volos courthouse and inside the police transport vehicle, as well as his torture at the Volos police station, as one continuous incident. We, his parents, stressed the same thing and denounced it publicly.

‘However, two prosecutors in Volos had already deliberately arranged, through their handling of the case, for it to be tried before the Volos Single-Member Misdemeanour Court as dangerous bodily harm, despite the documented severity of his injuries, and against only three police officers. In this way, they sought both to diminish the seriousness of the incident and to conceal the actual responsibility of all those involved.

‘The Ombudsman, in three findings which are damning for the six defendants, stressed, among other things, the severity of the injuries documented by doctors’ testimony during the Sworn Administrative Inquiry (EDE), as well as by the medical records.

‘The Ombudsman requested video footage from the area where Vasilis Maggos was detained, only to be told that no CCTV system existed there. It also pointed out that footage had not been requested from other areas, particularly the entrance to the building… [There is no possibility that there was no camera at the gate, I would add.]

‘Following our appeal to the Larissa Appeals Prosecutor’s Office, a ruling by the Volos Council of Misdemeanours ordered that six police officers stand trial before a Mixed Jury Court on charges of torture, joint unlawful detention, joint endangerment and dangerous bodily harm.

‘Hellenic Police Headquarters also referred the six defendants to the Thessaloniki First-Instance Police Disciplinary Council on the same allegations, with dismissal among the possible penalties.

‘Eyewitnesses also testified at Karditsa Police Station that they found our child lying opposite the Volos police station in a wretched condition.’

‘Before the trial at the Volos Single-Member Misdemeanour Court began, we asked for there to be one trial, not two,’ Maggos continued.

‘Our argument that there should be a single trial is now becoming clear in the proceedings in Karditsa, both from the hospital records and from the doctors’ statements, which do not establish when the injuries were inflicted and do not rule out that he may also have been beaten inside the police station.’

Maggos then cited passages from the trial record.

‘The fact is that, as the video shows, the beating outside the courthouse lasted four seconds. It is also a fact that Vasilis Maggos was struck four times with a rubber baton, as one of the defendants explicitly testified.

‘I quote from the minutes of the trial before the Volos Single-Member Misdemeanour Court:

‘Page 184.

‘Q: “How many times did you hit him?”

‘A: “I personally used it four times.”

‘Q: “Where? Only on the legs, you say?”

‘A: “Only on the legs. I use a flexible baton… Mine tends to bend, to form a loop. I did not hit him on the body.”

‘Q: “Could… the fractures have been caused by the blows you inflicted?”

‘A: “No, no.”

‘Q: “Do you want to add anything else?”

‘A: “I am absolutely certain that the injuries were not the result of my actions, nor of those of my other two co-defendants… They were all on his legs… It is impossible… putting myself in his place… If six of my ribs had been broken there, would I have got up? I personally would have fainted. I would not have stood up and walked to the vehicle… I would not have.”’

Maggos continued with the testimony of the second defendant:

‘Page 190. The second defendant, who kicked him once.

‘Q: “How many times did you hit him?”

‘A: “My contacts… were the one you can see with the baton, which is on the shoe, and the other one with the foot…”’

He then cited page 191:

‘Q: “Were you subsequently informed about the blows, about the injuries he had?”

‘A: “Yes, yes, of course.”

‘Q: “And what do you think? How were they caused?”

‘A: “They were not caused by us, in any case…”

‘Q: “So you rule that out?”

‘A: “I categorically rule it out… Completely…”’

Maggos also cited the third defendant’s testimony:

‘Page 194.

‘Q: “Did you kick him?”

‘A: “Yes. I can tell you with absolute certainty that my movement was directed at the lower limbs.”

‘Q: “How was he injured?”

‘A: “…there is not a single possibility that those injuries were caused by us. I tell you that with certainty. From that point on, what Mr Maggos may have done before this specific incident, I cannot know.”’

Yiannis Maggos then quoted from page 44 of the Volos Council of Misdemeanours’ ruling:

‘The clear conclusion is that the injuries caused by the use of police batons did not affect the victim to such an extent as to produce the condition observed later that same day. Nor do we consider it possible that the victim had suffered these extensive injuries in an earlier incident, as the defendants claim, and was nevertheless able to walk without difficulty outside the courthouse in order to protest.

‘Among the treating doctors’ findings was the presence of free fluid in the pouch of Douglas, and indeed in a large quantity, a finding consistent with the severe pain accompanying the injuries, one characteristic of which was that the pain intensified over time.

‘Had this finding predated the victim’s appearance outside the courthouse and remained medically untreated, in combination with the multiple rib fractures, he would not have been able to approach the prisoner escort with ease.’

Yiannis Maggos concluded: ‘We therefore believe that he was also struck at a later stage, causing the injuries to his liver and gallbladder, the multiple fractures of the seventh to twelfth ribs, the injury to the right side of the chest and the small areas of pneumothorax.’

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