The Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Appeal has filed felony charges against the officers, who were responsible for overseeing the entry of the organised group of Croatian supporters into the country ahead of a scheduled match between Dinamo Zagreb and AEK Athens. The five officers are being investigated for the charge of “fraudulent exposure,” which involves putting individuals at risk through negligence or misconduct.
Initially, the Prosecutor’s Office of First Instance had suggested closing the investigation, arguing that the most serious offence was dereliction of duty – a misdemeanour – as there was no evidence of intentional wrongdoing by the officers. However, the Court of Appeal Prosecutor disagreed, stating that the evidence pointed to potential culpability under criminal law. The charge of “fraudulent exposure” implies that the officers showed potential malicious intent in exposing individuals to risk, despite their negligence leading to the fatal injury of Katsouris and the harm of other fans.
The prosecutor also ruled that part of the case, specifically regarding the criminal responsibilities of the Traffic Police Directorate, should be archived, suggesting no further action would be taken against these officials.
The murder of 29-year-old Katsouris occurred during violent clashes outside the AEK stadium in Nea Filadelfeia, with reports highlighting serious operational errors by the Greek police. These failures were corroborated by internal memos from the Hellenic Police currently under review as part of an official administrative inquiry.
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