Αn Athens prosecutor has filed felony charges against four law enforcement officers in relation to the shocking murder of a woman by her former boyfriend outside a police precinct last April, essentially pointing to gross negligence by the former.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kyriaki Griva was fatally stabbed by her ex-boyfriend turned stalker on April 1 shortly after requesting police protection at a northwest Athens police precinct against the man – protection that never materialized. The woman’s murder shocked public opinion in the east Mediterranean country and rekindled serious debate over a perceived surge in fatal domestic violence.
The charge, as per Greek penal code, is fatal exposure through negligence by a person of authority.
All four law enforcement personnel had been summoned to provide testimony as suspects and will now face an investigative magistrate in the next judicial phase of the case.
Three of the officers served at the Aghii Anargyri police station, including a high-ranking inspector, the shift supervisor and a sentry, with the first two being female police officers.
The fourth is a police dispatcher, stationed at a central location, with whom the victim spoke shortly before she was stabbed to death. When she requested a police vehicle to take her home in safety, the dispatcher allegedly replied “ma’am, police cruisers aren’t taxis”.
A 37-year-old, Th. K., remains jailed pending trial for intentional homicide in “calm mental state”, another euphemism in the penal code.