NEWS

Policeman tells of teen’s death

Police special guard Vassilis Saraliotis, who was on duty in Exarchia, central Athens, along with Epaminondas Korkoneas when his colleague shot and killed 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, told a court yesterday that he had already started to leave the scene when the fatal bullets were fired. Saraliotis, who faces charges of being an accessory to the murder of the teenager, said that he and Korkoneas had left their patrol car to approach a group of people who had been throwing objects at them. «When I threw some stun grenades, the people standing across from us stopped throwing things and I took that as a sign that we should withdraw,» Saraliotis told the judge in the Amfissa court where the trial is being held. «I told Korkoneas, ‘Let’s go,’ but as I turned to leave I heard a shot. I lost it. I was not expecting that. I think he shot into the air to scare them off.» Korkoneas denies shooting at Grigoropoulos but earlier this week admitted in court that he had been looking directly at the crowd of people when he pulled the trigger.

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