She argued that the police handled Kostopoulos in the most violent way possible, fully aware of his injuries. “We did not have charges of homicide from the beginning.īut Paparousou’s greatest concern about the court’s decision was the lack of accountability for the police officers involved. “The accusation was not legally correct,” said Anny Paparousou, a lawyer for the family.
Queer activists across Greece have spent three years calling for “Justice for Zak/Zackie” in demonstrations The Kostopoulos family and their lawyer requested the prosecutor increase the charges for all the accused from fatal bodily harm to murder, and examine the possibility that there was a homophobic or other discriminatory motives behind the attack. The defence for the police maintained the officers acted properly and arrested Kostopoulos as was necessary, and did not contribute to his death. Throughout the court case, the defence argued that it was possible he did not die as a result of the beating, arguing perhaps he had drank too much the night prior, had taken too much ibuprofen, or perhaps was impacted due to his HIV status – all of which were rejected by the medical examiner.
