A carefully orchestrated plan to provoke violence against the police unfolded outside the Melina Mercouri stadium in Rentis on December 7, 2023. The scheme involved detailed preparation and instructions to evade police identification. One of the main suspects, speaking candidly after phone privacy was lifted, admitted to intentionally confronting the riot police. Shockingly, he confessed that the incidents were staged and bragged about their toughness after causing a fatality. The organizers aimed to provoke clashes with the police, resulting in the tragic murder of 31-year-old riot police officer Georgios Lyggeridis. They showed a blatant disregard for human life in their pursuit of violence.
Key move by the Hellenic Police
On the evening of December 7th, a crucial decision was made to confine everyone attending the volleyball match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos inside the gymnasium. Following the disturbances, many returned to the stadium and, as instructed by organisers, disposed of items that could implicate them. A total of 424 individuals were detained that evening, with 384 providing DNA samples and fingerprints and undergoing checks. Those who did not comply were either minors or refused to provide DNA. Only the teams’ delegations, accredited journalists, and minors under 15 were permitted to leave the stadium.
On the same night, the police collected all items the perpetrators tried to dispose of to hinder their identification. Despite fans usually wearing team colors, about 150 individuals involved in the riot wore black attire, concealing their identities with various hoods and masks. After their attacks, they discarded clothing, masks, and other items. Police retrieved these items from the stadium and surrounding areas for forensic analysis, comparing DNA evidence to samples from the detainees. The accused uniformly claim they discarded items to avoid easy identification, stating it was to prevent unfair accusations.
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The Perpetrators changed Plan
Amidst the chaos at the stadium, Georgios Lyggeridis fought for his life, wounded by a naval flare and then targeted with a Molotov cocktail. Meanwhile, the initial plan of attacking the police after the match changed when a leader, “Kontos,” instructed individuals to leave the stadium immediately, as captured on video. Police collected evidence, including videos and testimonies, revealing the orchestrated nature of the violence. The organisers, traced through surveillance footage converged at Karaiskakis Stadium gathering supplies before heading to Melina Mercouri. The stadium’s lack of cameras was strategic aiming to evade identification during the incidents. The timing, on the 15th anniversary of Alexandros Grigoropoulos’s murder underscored their sole target: police officers.
The lifting of Privacy
After the murder of Georgios Lyggeridis, the police lifted phone privacy of certain individuals who were already under suspicion for their presence at the stadium. Some had previous criminal records related similar incidents. Notably, one of the current defendants had been convicted twelve years ago for arson and assault with a knife. Known as “Kokos” in the hooligan community, he was among those investigated.
Phone call recordings revealed their movements and relationships, clarifying their intentions on the evening of December 7th. Among them were M.K. and Th.K. and two of their friends. One of them mentioned Georgios Lyggeridis, remarking on his death, prompting the defendant to insult and mock the police officer’s memory with vulgar language.
The Dialogues
These dialogues, like those of other accused individuals, essentially amount to an admission of their presence and participation in the incidents. The dialogues of M.K.-Θ. are indicative.
M.K.-Θ.: With Renti?
R.: In Renti?
M.K.-Θ.: Oh, they messed us up, damn… they… The incidents happened anyway.
R.: Mmm
M.K.-Θ.: We went back in.
R.: Mmm
M.K.-Θ.: And at some point, the MAT [riot police] show up again and threw tear gas at the door.
R.: Mmm
M.K.-Θ.: And we were trapped inside and tear gas was thrown in. We tried to exit through an emergency exit but we could have still seen them outside. I tried to jump a fence, and I saw MAT officers, and they said, “Hey, we’ve got you marked, we’ll screw you.” I climbed down, started running, I couldn’t leave at all, nobody could, they surrounded us, put us in vans.
In a second dialogue with another person, the following is heard:
X.: Were you outside?
M.K.-Θ.: Only at some point man. I wasn’t there from the beginning.
Later in the conversation with X., referring to the incidents in Renti, the accused seemed to have knowledge of the plan of the attack and the homicidal intention of the perpetrators:
X: And a direct shot, huh? Boom.
M.K.-Θ.: Yeah.
X: And whoever the reaper takes.
M.K.-Θ.: Ten people went there and emptied everything. Man, they had forty AK explosives. Do you know what it’s like to have forty explosives thrown at you?
X: They went to kill.
M.K.-Θ.: Yeah, they went to screw the cops, and there were few cops. There were only two squads, something like that.
X: I had heard, I had read basically that supposedly some Vazeloi [fans of Panathinaikos] had come outside the stadium that day for that reason.
M.K.-Θ.: Bollocks, no, that’s not true at all.
X: Lies, huh? Only with the police then?
M.K.-Θ.: It was a setup, man. It was all arranged, I’m telling you, man. At first, I heard about six squads. I heard there were six squads and something would happen, just with the six squads.
X: And at that time, were they beating them? The cops?
M.K.-Θ.: Yeah, they got a lot of beating, the cops got a lot of shit, I’m telling you.
However, the same accused seems to understand the possible consequences of the fact that they were all detained on the fateful night at the Melina Merkouri stadium. He himself had been arrested in the past for hooliganism.
M.K.-Θ.: They put us in a room and we sat there like idiots, they took our fingerprints, then they took us somewhere else for questioning, the next day they let us go. The shity thing is that I have another trial for hooliganism.
X.: Huh?
M.K.-Θ.: I have a trial for hooliganism.
X.: For what? For which match?
M.K.-Θ.: For Nea Ionia Heraklion.
X.: Ah, okay, what did you do there?
M.K.-Θ.: It happened two months ago, man, they caught us in the middle of the road and found things, that’s what we were going for.
The same accused appears proud of the act of homicide by complicity, as he states, this act is a significant achievement against rival fans. In fact, referring to the act of homicide, he speaks in the first person plural with the phrase “We killed a person.”
X.: Tell me now, who are the tough ones in terms of hooliganism in Athens?
M.K.-Θ.: Right now?
X.: Yes.
M.K.-Θ.: Us, man.
X.: That’s right.
M.K.-Θ.: We killed a man, what are you telling me now? Us and the Paok fans. Us and the Paok fans.
X.: Criminal organisations.
M.K.-Θ.: That’s how the others are, wimps. The AEK fans fought among themselves. Tell it, man, that Aristidis killed Michalis, don’t be ashamed.
