The trial of the two fishermen accused of murdering former PASOK minister Sifis Valyrakis opened today at the Mixed Jury Court of Athens but was quickly adjourned until September 30. The case, repeatedly postponed in the past, continues to draw attention for both its gravity and the controversy surrounding it.

At the outset, lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou, representing the Valyrakis family, reaffirmed their support for the prosecution against widow Mina Papatheodorou and her sons Ioannis and Alexandros Valyrakis.

“The Valyrakis family calls for the exemplary punishment of the accused and full clarification of the case. There has been a titanic effort to cover it up,” she told the court.

Both defendants, however, denied involvement.

“We are being falsely accused. We weren’t even there — we were tied up at the port, at home, having lunch. There were no witnesses,” the first defendant stated.
“We’re innocent. We weren’t there,” added the second.

The two men are charged with manslaughter with intent, committed jointly and in a calm state of mind, for the death of Valyrakis in January 2021 off Eretria.

On the day of the incident, Valyrakis’s widow reported to the Eretria Port Authority that her husband had set out alone around noon in his inflatable boat without his mobile phone. About 45 minutes later, the vessel was discovered abandoned on the rocky shore of Agia Triada island. Later that evening, at 20:20, authorities recovered Valyrakis’s body on the eastern coast of Pezonisi, Eretria.

A forensic report determined the cause of death as severe cranial and cervical injuries from a blunt cutting object, followed by drowning. Forensic experts testified that all injuries had been inflicted while Valyrakis was still alive.