Appeals court postpones hearing in 2008 beating death of gay rights activist
The Mixed Jury Court of Appeal of Athens hearing the 2018 beating death of Greek-American gay rights activist Zak Kostopoulos on Friday postponed the trial to December 15.
The trial was postponed in response to a request from one of the two defendants in the case, Thanassis Hortarias, a 63-year-old real estate agent who was present at the court hearing. The second defendant, 80-year-old Spyros Dimopoulos, the owner of the jewellery store where the beating took place, did not attend.
The 33-year-old Kostopoulos died shortly after while in police custody.
Last May, Hortarias and Dimopoulos were found guilty of causing fatal bodily harm and were each given a 10-year jail sentence, the maximum foreseen penalty for the crime. Four police officers who faced charges for their involvement were found innocent.
