Suspected killers of ‘drug dealer’ released pending trial
Two key members of the Rouvikonas anti-establishment group, Giorgos Kalaitzidis and Nikos Matarangas, were granted conditional release on Friday after appearing before an investigating magistrate in connection with the murder of a 36-year-old Egyptian man, an alleged drug dealer, in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia in June 2016.
Matarangas faces murder charges based on the testimony of two witnesses who claim to have recognized him even though the two men on the motorcycle from which the shots were fired were both masked.
Kalaitzidis, who claims the 36-year-old tried to stab him during a scuffle four months before the shooting, is being charged as a moral accomplice.
The pair, who refer to a “frame-up by the state,” are required to visit their local police station twice a week until their trial.
