The incident in central Athens
On September 21, 2018, 33-year-old activist Zak Kostopoulos became trapped inside a jewelry shop in downtown Athens. Video from the scene showed him attempting to get out through a display window and being repeatedly kicked and struck after reaching the sidewalk. Police then arrived and restrained him. Kostopoulos died shortly afterward.
Evidence captured on video
Security-camera and cellphone footage became central to public understanding of the incident and to the criminal proceedings. The case drew sustained attention in Greece because Kostopoulos was a prominent LGBTQ and HIV-rights activist and because the recorded sequence raised questions about both civilian violence and police conduct.
The first trial
In May 2022, an Athens court found the jewelry-shop owner and a nearby real-estate agent guilty of causing fatal bodily harm and sentenced each to ten years, then the maximum sentence for the offense. Four police officers who had also been charged in connection with the incident were acquitted by a split decision.
The appeal judgment
On July 10, 2024, the Mixed Jury Court of Appeal of Athens unanimously upheld the two men's guilt for causing fatal bodily harm. After recognizing mitigating factors, the appeals court imposed six years on the real-estate agent and five years on the jeweler. The former was ordered back to prison, while the jeweler was permitted to serve his sentence under house arrest because of his age.
Sources and further reading
Case context
The archive treats the case as adjudicated because the two convictions were sustained by an appeals court. It also preserves the legal distinctions in the record: fatal bodily harm was the offense of conviction, and the four police defendants were acquitted.