ATHENS — A Greek court docket on Friday rejected an effort to toughen the punishment for a bunch of males convicted within the beating dying of an American on a vacation island in 2017, upholding the unique convictions of six males for grievous assault and spurning a name to search out them responsible of homicide.
Prosecutors had sought the retrial after the preliminary verdict for the killing of the American, Bakari Henderson, a Black 22-year-old school graduate from Texas, arguing that the sentences had been too lenient. A lawyer for his household known as the choice from the court docket, within the western metropolis of Patras, “a tragic day for Greek justice.”
The choice signifies that the sentences had been unchanged for 5 of the lads, who had been already free after finishing their sentences for the assault convictions. The sixth man, who had acquired an extended punishment, might be launched within the coming days after the court docket lowered his time period.
Jill Henderson, Mr. Henderson’s mom, stated that the household was “extraordinarily disheartened” with the decision. “Sadly, it seems that almost all sympathized with the defendants versus our son, a Black American,” she stated, including that the household would take the case to Greece’s Supreme Courtroom.
Mr. Henderson was killed in the course of the summer time of 2017 on the island of Zakynthos. The assault made worldwide headlines due to its brutality and claims by witnesses that it might have been racially motivated.
His family, who’ve traveled to Greece a number of occasions for the 2 trials, stated the preliminary convictions weren’t commensurate with the brutality of the assault. They stated they needed to see Mr. Henderson’s attackers obtain the utmost penalty for homicide, a life sentence. Beneath Greek regulation, that will imply 20 years in jail.
9 males who had been initially implicated within the assault went on trial for homicide in 2018. Six of the defendants had been convicted, however of a lesser cost — grievous assault — and three had been cleared. After that trial, a Greek prosecutor, Giorgos Bisbikis, persuaded judges to retry the six convicted defendants on the unique homicide costs.
The idea of double jeopardy applies in Greek regulation solely when a verdict is ultimate. As a result of the unique choice was appealed by a prosecutor and subsequently not ultimate, the retrial was doable. It started in February.
The retrial ended on Friday when a combined appeals court docket of three judges and 4 jurors narrowly upheld the unique convictions, 4 to three, with two of the judges, together with the president of the court docket, supporting the prosecutor’s proposal for homicide convictions.
“Bakari Henderson got here to our nation as a vacationer,” the household’s lawyer, Christos Kaklamanis, stated after sentencing on Friday.
“For the second time, our system of justice betrayed him,” he stated, including that the choice “offers the message that different such acts of violence could be forgiven.”
Mr. Henderson had been touring in Greece with pals and selling the launch of a clothes line on the time of his dying in July 2017, in line with his mother and father, who had been in Greece for the retrial.
The prosecution’s principal problem had been to persuade the court docket that Mr. Henderson’s assailants had meant to kill him, however the protection argued that his dying, although tragic, was unintended.
Video from safety cameras within the resort city of Laganas confirmed a brutal assault. A crowd of males could be seen chasing Mr. Henderson down a avenue earlier than hurling him in opposition to a automotive and laying into him with a hail of punches and kicks. On the time, a Greek police spokesman stated that Mr. Henderson died inside 30 seconds.
Of the six who had been initially jailed, a Briton of Bosnian descent had acquired the longest sentence, 15 years. That sentence was lowered to eight years on Friday after the court docket discovered that he had proven good conduct following his conviction, and he might be launched in a couple of days. Convicts normally serve a couple of third of the sentences meted out by courts, in line with the Greek penal code and parole system.
The opposite 5 males, all Serbs, got sentences of 5 to 10 years however had been all free by the point of the retrial.
Testimony by witnesses advised that the assault on Mr. Henderson may need been racially motivated. A bartender advised Greek investigators that when she had posed for {a photograph} with Mr. Henderson, a person standing close by commented: “There are numerous Serbs within the bar. Why are you speaking to a Black man?” The girl stated the bystander then punched Mr. Henderson, who responded by hanging him over the top with a beer bottle, an alternate that was additionally captured on video.
Violent fights aren’t uncommon in Laganas, a resort favored by younger vacationers for its low cost alcohol and raucous nightlife. Lately, the authorities on the island have tried to curb alcohol-fueled offenses whereas sustaining the overseas tourism that helps the native financial system.
