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Day 194: THE COURT SHOULD GUARANTEE THE SAFETY OF ATTENDEES

194th Hearing, Court of Appeals, November 1st, 2017

I. Access to the Court

The courtroom remains open to the public upon presentation of a state ID card, which is retained by court authorities for the duration of the session, until all audience seats in the courtroom are filled. There were many journalists present in the courtroom as well as a small number of spectators.

II. Presence of defendants

None of the defendants was present at the hearing.

III. Examination by the civil action counsels

Civil action counsel Papadakis stated that counsel Evgenia Kouniaki [:an associate of the civil action counsels for the Egyptian fishermen] was attacked by Golden Dawners outside the courthouse and was taken to the hospital. The counsel called upon the court to guarantee the safety of all attendees.

[The incident took place outside the Supreme Court, on Alexandras Ave. The Golden Dawners initially attacked a few passengers of a trolley car who protested their presence and the pamphlets they were handing out. The attack caused more protests by passers-by, among which was the aforementioned counsel, who shouted to the trolley car driver to close the doors. This drove the Golden Dawners mad, and they proceeded to attack both her and another young woman, wounding them in the face. The police arrested a number of people, and the wounded women were first taken to the hospital and then to the Athens Police Directorate to give their accounts of the incident].

IV. Decision of the Court pertaining to the motion by the defense counsels

The court accepted the motion –submitted in the previous hearing– by the defense counsel to examine the protected witnesses in the presence of an officer of the court and an officer of the state prosecutor’s office. The presiding judge adjourned in order to allow “an officer of the court and an officer of the state prosecutor’s office to meet, under the supervision of the state prosecutor’s office of the Court of Appeals and the Athens Court of Minor Offences, with the head of the Witness Protection Program, in order to brief them on the state prosecutor’s orders under which these witnesses joined the Witness Protection Program, to ascertain the witnesses’ identity by their State ID card, to inform the Court of this process, and to be present at the protected witness testimonies.

The presiding judge adjourned for November 3rd, 2017, at the Women’s Wing of the Korydallos Prison, when the testimonies of the protected witnesses are expected to continue.

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