Eight Romanian soccer fans jailed by Serres court
Eight Romanian soccer fans arrested just after they crossed the border into Greece have been sentenced to 30 days’ imprisonment by a court in Serres under fan violence laws.
The period of jail time is mandatory under the new laws and cannot be appealed. The jailed Steaua Bucharest fans can, however, the remainder of their 18-month sentence.
The jailed Romanians, who range in age from 31 to 54, will serve their sentences at Nigrita prison.
The defendants appeared visibly shocked by the sentence imposed on them at Serres courthouse, state broadcaster ERT reported. One of the defendants told the court that he was a businessman and his employees would now be out of a job.
The fans were arrested on Thursday at the Promachonas border crossing between Bulgaria and Greece after a knife and a retractable baton were found in the van they were traveling in ahead of a Europa League match.
The fans were in a convoy of two vans and a car heading to Thessaloniki for the match between Steaua Bucharest and local club PAOK when their vehicles were searched at the border crossing, police said.
They were arrested under stricter regulations introduced as part of a crackdown on fan violence that has plagued Greek soccer in particular, and sports events in the country in general, for decades.
The eight men, aged from 31 to 54, all had tickets to Thursday night’s match, police said. [Kathimerini, ERT, AP]
