Twelve Greek prison officials have been sentenced to between three and five years in prison for the torture of a 42-year-old Albanian detainee, Ilia Kareli, who died in Nigrita Prison in northern Greece in 2014.
Kareli was reported to have stabbed their colleague Giorgos Tsironis to death in another prison before being transferred to Nigrita.
Upon arrival, they beat and tortured him. He eventually died of a heart attack which the court ruled came from an underlying issue present before the torture started. Therefore those involved were only charged with torture and not murder.
Those who received four to five year terms had their sentences suspended. This was reportedly due to “subsequent good conduct” and “aggravating circumstances” that led to the committing of the crime.
The prosecutor from the Ministry of Defence said “they deliberately subjected the detainee to torture as revenge for killing their colleague. Exhausted and already tied to a pole, he was kicked and punched. He was dragged out two hours after the beating.”
The duration of the sentence and the finding that the heart attack was a “pre-existing condition” has caused controversy in Albanian media and society.
