Faced with a heavy indictment accusing him of attempting to kill five employees, the 89-year-old man accused of the armed attack on the offices of the EFKA in Kerameikos and the First Instance Court on Tuesday morning, April 28, was brought to court for his plea before the interrogator.
The defendant, who waved to reporters from the security vehicle that transported him to Evelpidon, is due to enter a plea to three felonies, the most serious of which is attempted serial murder and six misdemeanors. According to his lawyer, Vassilis Nulezas, the elderly man confesses that he planned his actions but denies that he intended to kill. According to the lawyer, the elderly client intends to apologise before the magistrate to the EFKA employee and the four employees of the Court of First Instance who were wounded by the shotgun pellets.
The defendant, attempting to weaken the attempted murder charge, claims that if he wanted to kill the employees, he would not have aimed the shotgun at the ground: “I fired below the knees” he allegedly says, stating that what he was interested in was “causing a stir” having reached a state of utter despair at the way his request for identification badges was handled.
The 89-year-old foreign retiree is charged with attempted serial murder, aggravated unlawful carrying of a firearm inside a courthouse and aggravated unlawful carrying of a firearm, felony charges. He is also charged with six misdemeanor counts of unlawful carrying of a firearm for the purpose of hunting with intent to commit a felony, unlawful possession of ammunition and cartridges, unlawful possession of firearms, disorderly conduct with intent to commit a felony, and threatening to commit a felony.
The case file accepts that the perpetrator did not act in heat, in a piecemeal and uncoordinated manner but that he planned his actions carefully, methodically studying his target facilities before the day in question to identify security gaps and the potential for his heavily armed entry into the buildings. And the accused himself in his confession to the police officers appears to have said that he organised his double armed attack with a specific modus operandi and plan of action: “I wanted to do it in winter, so I could wear the trench coat and hide the shotgun…. Because in a few days it would be May and it would start getting hot and I wouldn’t be able to wear a trench coat, I decided to go today,” he allegedly said among other things, describing how he had made sure to modify the shotgun, barrel length, etc., so that he could conceal it while wearing his coat.
What the accused will claim in his plea today, as well as all his general conduct before and especially after his act, will be evaluated by the investigator and the prosecutor who will decide on the criminal treatment he should receive after his plea. Despite the advanced age of the accused, the judicial authorities could order his detention if they consider him dangerous to commit new offences or suspected of absconding. They would also have the possibility to impose house arrest, possibly with a bracelet, or, if there is no question of danger, to impose restrictive measures with a financial guarantee. In the case of the 89-year-old, a diagnosis may, if requested, be sought for the mental health condition of the defendant who appears to have experienced mental health issues in the past.
