Thessaloniki youths handed suspended sentences for suspected football-related attack

A Thessaloniki court has convicted four young people for violently assaulting a student with a knife in June 2018, an incident a prosecutor blamed on rivalry between fans of rival football clubs.

The court found the accused guilty of grievous bodily harm but accepted their age at the time of the offense as a mitigating factor.

Two of the defendants were convicted of a criminal act and were handed suspended sentences of 5.5 and 5 years, respectively, on condition they report to a local police station once a month.

The two other defendants were convicted of a misdemeanor and must pay €5 a day in lieu of a four-year sentence.

The incident happened outside the home of the victim, who was 21 years old at the time, as he was heading to university. He was stabbed numerous time during the attack, including in the liver. He was also kicked in the head.

The prosecutor in the case blamed the attack on fan-related violence, noting that the victim was reluctant to testify about the assault due to the “omerta” that exists between rival fan clubs.