With the apology of the 12th defendant, the trial for the murder of Alkis Kampanos and the wounding of two of his friends by PAOK hooligans on February 1, 2022 in the area of ​​Harilaou continued at noon on Thursday at the Thessaloniki Mixed Jury Court.

This is the driver of the car that, as emerged from the video footage, turned towards Gazi Street, where Alkis was murdered, on the fateful night.

Starting his apology, the 12th defendant apologized to the family of Alkis Kampanos. As he said, “in prison I tried to put myself in the place of Alki’s sister” and continued saying that “no one can bring their child back”.

According to what he said in his statement, he only knew the 9th defendant, whom he contacted before going to the association.

When he reached the link, he continued, he noticed that there was a disturbance and that was when he heard about the fan incident that had preceded it in Oreokastro. Then the 9th defendant asked him to put his car in “so we can go and argue”.

“Unfortunately I accepted, maybe I didn’t want to appear a coward – I didn’t see any objects when they got into the car”
“Unfortunately I accepted, maybe I didn’t want to look like a coward,” he then claimed and said he then got into his car and waited.

Continuing his apology, the driver stated that he made a maneuver to avoid the two cars in which the other defendants were riding and entered the alley because he saw a bus coming.

“As soon as I saw that they came out with weapons, I was scared”
“I hadn’t seen people on the stairs. As soon as they shouted at me, I stopped 15-20 meters after the incident,” he said and emphasized that the three passengers then got out of the vehicle. Then, according to him, he saw that they were holding objects in their hands.

“At that moment I saw objects. I had misgivings from the beginning. I couldn’t fight someone who hasn’t done something to me. I didn’t know there were guns,” he said, among other things, afterward.

“As soon as I saw that they came out with weapons and clothing, I was scared,” he emphasized, continuing his apology. As he said, he saw a piece of wood and an iron, which he now knows was the scythe.

He then described closing the car doors that had been left open by the other three defendants when they got out, emphasizing that he did this from the driver’s seat, stretching his body to reach them.

“I never got out of the car”
“I stayed at the scene as long as it took them to get down and close the doors,” he said at another point in his apology, insisting that “I never got out of the car.”

“I wish I had come down to know and tell you,” he said a little later regarding the incident, saying that each of the other defendants was telling his own version, with him not knowing what was actually true.

As he said, he did not know whether he should leave the spot or stay, but he stated that he could not leave the 9th accused, who was his friend.

“I saw them running with guns and I was confused”
“I saw that they are running with weapons and I was confused. I knew they would go there with their hands,” he then underlined.

According to what he said in his apology, he drove the car a little below the scene of the incident, where he stopped in a recess. When his three co-accused returned and got into the car, he saw them upset, asked them what happened and they said that they hit the children with knives and sticks, with him reacting by shouting and swearing at them.

“I wanted to let them go because I knew a person had been stabbed,” he also said.
Then, he added, the 9th asked him to stop at a point where he threw away the helmet and the knife.

“I wanted to let them go because I knew a person had been stabbed,” he also said.

After the incident, he claimed he went home. There after a while the 9th visited him, told him what had happened and apologized, with the 12th asking him to disappear.

“It was the worst feeling I’ve ever felt. The first thing I thought was that my family wouldn’t know I was there. I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping,” he said and added:

“After 5-6 days I found the courage and told the parents. They talked to a lawyer, I wanted to surrender and he told me that I am good to surrender and I surrendered.”

What did he say about the missed calls and the knife in the car
Responding to the Prosecutor’s question about the calls he deleted from his mobile phone, he claimed that “I deleted the calls on my mobile phone because I was scared. I started to go have a coffee and found myself in all of this.”

Regarding the knife found in his car, he replied that “I used the knife found in the car for kitesurfing and fishing”. When asked by the prosecutor why another person’s genetic material was found on it, he answered “But I don’t go kitesurfing or fishing alone, someone else may have touched it”.

“He can’t have died alone”
Shortly before completing his plea and after questions from the prosecutor, the 23-year-old admitted that Alkis Kampanos “couldn’t have died alone” and that “someone had hit him”, but claimed that he had no visual contact with the scene of the murderous attack . “I wish I had come down to watch to tell you,” he emphasized

Only one admits to hitting Alki
With the apology of the 12th defendant, the apologies of all 12 defendants for the murder of Alkis Kampanos were completed. So far, the only one who has admitted to hitting Alki is the 2nd defendant.

The trial was suspended and will continue on June 2 at the request of the Prosecutor.