Court upholds life sentences for DIAS officers’ murder, clears third suspect
An appeals court upheld on Tuesday the two life sentences and additional 25 years in jail handed down to two suspects in connection to the murder of two officers in a DIAS motorcycle patrol, carried out in March 2011 in the Rendi district near Piraeus, but also cleared a third suspect who had been previously convicted.
The three men were each given two life sentences by a lower court in March 2013, which found them guilty of repeated counts of murder, attempted murder, participation in a criminal organization and violating laws on weapons.
On Tuesday, the two men, Ioannis Savidis and Andreas Pofidis, received an additional 25 years on top of their original sentence. The third defendant, Giorgos Emertzidis, was cleared of the murder charges and convicted only for participation in a criminal organization.
Another nine suspects were tried for lesser charges related to the crime and received two to eight years in prison.
The victims, Giorgos Skyloyiannis, 22 and Yiannis Evangelinelis, 23, died after four men opened fire on eight DIAS officers who were pursuing them. Another two officers were injured in the attack.
