The 21-year-old student, a friend of the victim, with whose examination the trial continues today, described frame by frame what took place that fatal night, in the area of Harilaou, expressing the certainty that the perpetrators had accomplices, who “saw us and informed them for them to come and find us.”
“They were cold as killers. They came to kill, quietly do what they did and leave […] They came with scythes, sticks, and knives.” With these words, a friend of Alkis Kampanou – an eyewitness and also a victim of the bloody episode that claimed the life of the 19-year-old student – described from the witness stand at the Mixed Jury Court of Thessaloniki, where the trial of the 12 accused of the murder continues, what took place in the early hours of February 1, 2022.
The 21-year-old student, with whose examination the trial continues today, described frame by frame what took place that fateful night, in the area of Harilaou, expressing the certainty that the perpetrators had accomplices, who “they saw us and informed them to come and find us.”
The witness began his testimony by looking back at the hours leading up to the murder, that is, before they ended up with his sidekick, as he called Alkis, and the rest of their three friends, on the steps of the building on Th. Gazi Street, where they received the murderous attack. “It was around 8pm. We were in the park of Mars. At one point we went to the association of friends of Ares, had a short coffee and left,” testified the young student, noting that their group then returned to the particular park to move a little later to the scene of the bloody episode, which they chose to “cut ” from the cold.
Their carefree chat about computers and studies was suddenly interrupted when they noticed four people approaching from the left, “walking calmly and coolly” and asking them “what group are you?”.
“I remember one was tall, blond and asked us: “what team are you?”. They had their faces covered with full face hoods. Only the eyes and eyebrows were visible. They were dressed in black so that no one could see anything in the dark. Everyone was holding something”, said the witness and continued: “I answered that I am Ares. I didn’t understand at the time why they came.”
“Then I realized from the right side more people coming – it was 5 to 6. I froze when I saw the scythe in someone’s hands. The first thing was to defend myself, so I raised my helmet in self-defense. They came aggressively, their intentions were evident. I hit a person on the head, he took 3-4 steps back, and stabbed me with a knife, left leg, thigh and right leg. I was held by several at that time. I wasn’t one-on-one. They were holding me down, steadying me so that others could hit me. I think there were multiple stabbings. Everything happened very quickly, in a few seconds,” Alki’s friend testified, stressing that he received 15 blows with a knife, a wooden pole and a sickle.
In the continuation of his testimony, he referred to Alkis, noting characteristically: “After a while I heard Alkis calling for help. He was slumped on the steps. They had pinned me to the wall of the apartment building and were beating me. I saw over Alkis many people hitting him and shouting for help. There were definitely more than ten people on him. I didn’t have time to look further because I was trying to save myself. I went to protect him, but they held me down and beat me. I tried not to pass out, because otherwise they would succeed in killing me. The last thing I remember was being hit on the head. At that time I blurted out and they started to leave. I saw them leaving for Plastira. I went down the stairs and picked up Alkis, he took 2-3 steps, went to the flower bed, sat down and I tried to give him help. After a few minutes, the police came. I didn’t get to contact anyone else. The first one I got was my father.”
In questions received from both the judges and the district attorney, he said that what shocked him the most was when he saw the sickle. He also emphasized that none of the group of five young men is an organized fan of Aris, while when asked if anyone approached him all this time to apologize, he answered in the negative.
The examination of the witness is ongoing.
RES-EMP
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