Chania: 7 innocent for setting up an arms trafficking gang – The penalties

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The court found all the defendants not guilty of the charges of forming a gang while only the first defendant was found guilty of the offense of arms trafficking

After a long break, the court decided on the seven defendants of the much-lauded case that occupied Chania for the establishment of a gang and arms trafficking. In detail, according to flashnews.gr, the court decided that all defendants are innocent of the charges of forming a gangwhile only the first defendant was found guilty of the crime of arms trafficking.

In detail, the court found the first defendant guilty of the charges of illegal modification of weapons and illegal possession of weapons. The charges against him relate to weapons that are operational.

For the second defendant the court found him guilty of the charges of converting weapons without a license and illegal possession of weapons without a license he was found guilty of the illegal possession of weapons that did not have a license.

For the fourth defendant, the court found him guilty of the charge of illegal possession of a weapon without a license.

The sixth defendant was found guilty of illegal possession of unlicensed weapons.

Finally, for the seventh defendant, the court found him guilty of the charge of illegal possession of a weapon without a license.

The court sentenced the first defendant to 7 years and 3 months and the second defendant was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months and the 5th defendant was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months.

At the same time, the fourth defendant was sentenced to 12 months in prison, while the sixth and seventh defendants were sentenced to four years in prison.

The defendants were granted a stay of appeal of their sentences.

The prosecutor’s proposal

Earlier, the prosecutor in her motion stated that there is no evidence to demonstrate the formation of a gang by the defendants.

For the first defendant, he pleaded guilty to the possession of weapons, however, he stated that trafficking was not proven. With reference to the second defendant, he stated that weapons were his profession as he ran the store in the center of Chania, while for his wife there is no evidence that he had any relationship.
The prosecutor for the fourth accused then pleaded guilty to the unlicensed weapon. Regarding the fifth defendant, the prosecutor stressed that she maintains doubts about whether he had knowledge of the weapons found in his father’s possession, while suggesting that he is guilty of disobedience as the police had gone on a chase to arrest him.

For the sixth defendant he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of weapons although he appears not to have used weapons.

Finally, for the last accused, he proposed his acquittal as it seems that he really considered the weapon an heirloom.

The apologies of the seven defendants

The trial started early on Monday morning with the apologies of the 7 defendants. One of the two who had been remanded in custody started first. In his apology he mentioned that his profession is a farmer but weapons are his passion, his occupation. Regarding the huge number of weapons found in his possession, he stated that the weapons were collected by others, given to him by others, and in fact were many years old.

Afterwards, the second defendant who had been remanded in custody and ran a weapons store in Chania spoke. In his apology, he emphasized that he is retired from the Air Force and has a specialty as a gunsmith. He noted that he has always maintained a good relationship with the police and is deeply saddened by this whole case. The defendant stated that the police often used him in several police operations as he had a lot of knowledge about weapons and even asked for his assistance from other regions of Greece. He also emphasizes that many companies throughout the country had hired him for the maintenance and repair of weapons.

For the large number of weapons found in his possession without a permit, he justified their existence by stating that a friend of his gave them to him for safekeeping, but he died before he could receive them back. The defendant concluded that everything was done legally and there were always proofs and documents.
Then followed the apology of the wife of the previous accused in whose name the gun store was located. She stated that professionally she had nothing to do as she runs a clothing business in Chania and simply for bureaucratic reasons the business bore her name.

Then, in his statement, the fourth defendant stated that he had a license for the three weapons, but he did not have one for the fourth. Regarding the machines found in his possession, he stated that he used them for repairs and they are parts that are generally used for “handyman”.

The fifth defendant, son of the first defendant stated that he knew nothing about the weapons that his father had in his possession.

Among other things, the non-accused in his apology stated that the weapons found in his possession were found in the ruins of a house belonging to his family a few months before the case “exploded”. In fact, he states that he was preparing to go to the police station to report them, but due to increased obligations, he did not have time to go. In fact, he emphasized that he has nothing to do with weapons in his life, nor does he know how to handle them, although because of his status he can issue a license for a weapon, but he never wanted to.

The latter defendant stated that he had in his possession a 100-year-old gun which he kept as he considered it to be an heirloom and did not think it might be functional.

The timeline of the case

It is recalled that the police authorities of Chania, after a major operation in Kissamos, Paleochora, Apokoronas and in the city of Chania, had found “illegal weapons workshops”.

Seven people were arrested as members of the ring, and as it was announced “in the three fully equipped illegal weapons laboratories were found, among others, and seized:

31 weapons of war,
34 pistols and revolvers,
13,000 cartridges,
14 shotgun barrels
45 shotgun barrels
4 mufflers and
70 magazines

The operation was carried out by police officers from the Organized Crime Department in collaboration with police officers from the Security Sub-Directorate of Chania, the TAE of Chania and the OPKE of Chania

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