Alonissos - Giorgos Karamichailidis court case: "The residents' mouths are closed due to fear"

The trial for the disappearance of 30-year-old Giorgos Karamichailidis in Alonissos in August 2016, with two fishermen accused, continued today at the Mixed Jury Court of Larissa, with testimonies from Port Police officers, journalists and a businessman.

The act for which they are accused is that they jointly assaulted him which resulted in his death of another person.

On August 30, 2016 in the port of Votsi in Alonissos, Giorgos Karamichailidis had boarded a boat and then the first defendant, originally from Crete, kicked him in the face, resulting in him losing consciousness and being swept away by the sea currents, while neither of the two defendants subsequently tried to rescue him. An important role in the development of the case was the testimony of a minor child who was friends with the son of the accused Cretan. The son of the accused told his friend that his father kicked the 30-year-old in the boat.

The child's father, a businessman on the island, confirmed in court today what his son initially told him. However, the defense attorney noted that the son's statement to the authorities two years later differed from his original account. The businessman also shared the child's statement with a journalist who had traveled to the island with a cameraman to cover the story. The journalist testified today about what the businessman had told her, mentioning that at that time, the island's residents were silent due to fear of the Cretan.

Earlier, two Coast Guard employees testified, with the then Harbormaster stating that during the initial search for the 30-year-old, valuable time was lost as they focused on the port rather than the sea.

The trial will continue on Wednesday, June 25th, and is expected to conclude on the following day, the 26th.