VIDEO SHOWS: TRIAL WITNESSES AND CROWD OUTSIDE KORYDALLOS SECURITY PRISON, POLICE OFFICERS, BYSTANDERS, STATEMENTS FROM DEFENCE LAWYER OF ONE SOCCER FAN AND THE FATHER OF GEORGE LYNGERIDIS POLICE OFFICER FATALLY INJURED DURING CLASHES IN 2023 RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: ATHENS, GREECE (NOVEMBER 5, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. VARIOUS OF CROWD OF WITNESSES AND DEFENDANTS WAITING TO ENTER THE COURTROOM AT KORYDALLOS PRISON IN ATHENS 2. POLICE OFFICERS IN THE EXTERIOR AREA OF KORYDALLOS PRISON 3. CROWD OUTSIDE KORYDALLOS PRISON 4. VARIOUS OF POLICE VAN 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) DEFENCE LAWYER OF SOCCER FAN, VASSO PANTAZI, SAYING: “This is one of the most serious cases of fan violence that will occupy us and will mark a turning point for the Greek criminal system. Don’t forget we have a victim who was a police officer simply doing his job that day. Nevertheless, we unfortunately have an investigation that rounded up as defendants everyone who was at the stadium that day, and you understand that this creates a legal insecurity, because being present somewhere does not mean you actually committed a crime. That is what we, the defenders of people who simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time that day, will try to show.” 6. GUARD POST AT KORYDALLOS PRISON 7. CROWD OUTSIDE KORYDALLOS PRISON, CARS PASSING 8. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS OUTSIDE THE PRISON 9. (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) DEFENCE LAWYER OF SOCCER FAN, VASSO PANTAZI, SAYING: “This is a landmark trial because the fans are not turning against other fans. We have seen such trials in Greece before. These are fans against a police officer. We have more than 150 defendants and imagine that the witnesses for this trial reach 200. You understand that this is a trial that will proceed at a very slow pace. That’s how criminal justice moves in Greece, and that is how it should be for legal certainty.” 10. POLICE VEHICLE OUTSIDE THE PRISON 11. POLICE OFFICERS ON THE STREET 12. FATHER OF POLICE OFFICER GEORGE LYNGERIDIS, WHO WAS KILLED DURING CLASHES IN 2023, APPROACHING 13. (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) FATHER OF POLICE OFFICER GEORGE LYNGERIDIS, SAKIS LYNGERIDIS, SAYING: “They took my treasure, they took my child. They killed him pointlessly, for no reason, for nothing. Why? Because he was simply a police officer. Excuse me. Do you want a country without police? Do you want a country without laws? And here we are, outside the court. What do we want in court? A trial. Yes. A proper trial. Yes. That’s what we want. A proper trial, for everyone to stand up to their responsibilities, so this story can end. So this story ends, because we are dealing with a criminal organisation.” 14. PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE PRISON CHATTING 15. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE EXITING THE PRISON GATE 16. POLICE OFFICERS STANDING BY THEIR CAR 17. (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) DEFENCE LAWYER OF SOCCER FAN, VASSO PANTAZI, SAYING: “Look, if our education framework does not change, this starts at our schools and at our homes. If young people do not stop directing their anger into the stadium riots, nothing will change.” 18. POLICE CAR ON THE STREET 19. POLICE OFFICERS WALKING 20. PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE BUILDING OF KORYDALLOS PRISON, CARS PASSING STORY: The trial of Greece's Olympiacos football club chairman Evangelos Marinakis and dozens of soccer fans began in Greece on Wednesday (November 5), the biggest case of its kind linked to sports-related violence that authorities have vowed to crack down on. In total, 142 fans face charges of running a crime organisation and causing life-threatening explosions at sporting events. They have denied wrongdoing. “This is one of the most serious cases of fan violence that will occupy us and will mark a turning point for the Greek criminal system", said Vasso Pantazi, defence lawyer of one of the soccer fans. Marinakis, a shipping and media tycoon who also owns English Premier League club Nottingham Forest, and another four board members are accused of supporting the alleged criminal group in 2019-2024 and instigating violence due to a 2023 statement. They have dismissed the misdemeanour charges as groundless. Marinakis was not present in the packed courtroom at Athens' high-security Korydallos prison on Wednesday and was represented by his lawyer. Masked police officers guarded a few defendants still in detention. More than 210 people will testify before the three-member bench during the trial, which lawyers estimate could last more than a year. The probe was launched after the 2023 fatal injury of 31-year-old riot police officer George Lyngeridis in clashes outside a women's volleyball match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, a normally low-risk game. "We want a fair trial", said his father outside the courtroom today. Lyngeridis was hit by a flare during the clashes and died from his injuries weeks later. It was Greece's third fatality in sports violence in 2022-2023 and prompted the top court prosecutor to urge a clampdown on criminal gangs linked with sports.
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