Determined to seek justice for his beloved cousin Efi Tsichlaki in European courts is human rights lawyer Emmanouil Athanasiou. The unfortunate woman was murdered in March 2016 in Chania by her husband. Initially, the perpetrator attempted to strangle her in their home and then took her life with a bullet to the head. The husband himself called the police and claimed it was a suicide.

According to Mr. Athanasiou, the human rights lawyer who took on Efi Tsichlaki’s case and spoke to protothema.gr, her killer remains free after the crime and has even remarried. He explains that he learned the perpetrator inherited and sold the house where he lived with Efi Tsichlaki.

“He sold the house he lived in with Efi, a house that was in both Efi’s and his name, and this has outraged us. With what ownership, with what jurisdiction, did this man inherit and sell the house where he killed her? Efi was not just my cousin; she was my older sister, and that’s why I will personally pursue this case in the European courts so that her memory can be vindicated,” Emmanouil Athanasiou told protothema.gr.

The Angry Post from Emmanouil Athanasiou on Facebook:

“The recent developments in the Tsichlaki case have not only caused anger and outrage but have now led to despair within our family regarding this judicial thriller. After almost an entire year, a judicial council in Crete examined the appeal filed by the prosecutor against the problematic ruling for the release of Kostas Lemenitakis, who is and will remain free. With the seal of the Greek judiciary for a femicide, he covered in every possible way. Kostas Lemenitakis was released just weeks after the examination of the dual requests for annulment by the A Criminal Division of the Supreme Court. He served his sentence in agricultural prisons, and the determination of his sentence raises serious questions in legal circles. The Supreme Court has STILL not issued the relevant decision, knowing of course that in any case the Tsichlaki case is heading to Strasbourg and that once again the Greek judiciary will be disgraced on a European level. Even more shocking? Crete – Greece, the country where the murderer inherits his victim, sells the house where the murder took place, and makes money after the murder, all in full illegality. Greece, you disgusted us… There are no longer words to describe how we feel about this chaos… This institutional degradation! Shame has been lost now…”

What Happened in March 2016

On March 22, 2016, the 47-year-old was found dead in her home by her 49-year-old husband, who claimed she had shot herself in the head. He informed the authorities, asserting that his wife had committed suicide.

However, the next day, the police arrested him on charges of intentional homicide, and a few days later, after his testimony to the judicial authorities, he was released under restrictive conditions.

During the trial, the Mixed Court of Rethymno ultimately, by a majority of 4 to 3, was convinced that the woman had committed suicide, and the accused was acquitted.

Subsequently, the appellate prosecutor filed an appeal, arguing—among other things—that the 47-year-old couldn’t have committed suicide, as she had been shot in the head from the left side while being right-handed.

In May 2022, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for the crime. A year and a half later, Kostas Lemenitakis was released.