Ten year sentence for men guilty of death LGBTQ community activist Zak Kostopoulos

A court handed a ten year sentence to two men found guilty of the death of LGBTQ community activist Zak Kostopoulos.

The owner of a jewelry store and a real estate office were placed under terms of detention on Tuesday after being found guilty over  beating to death LGBTQ community activist Zacharias (Zak) Kostopoulos in 2018.

The two men were given the maximum jail sentence (10 years) for grievous bodily harm resulting in the death of Kostopoulos, 33. Serving the full sentence will be the jeweller, while the realtor will be detained at home due to his age (77).

In its decision, the court also refused to recognize mitigating circumstances for the two businessmen, or to serve a suspended sentence.

Kostopoulos died after an altercation in the jewelry shop in downtown Athens. The two business owners claimed they had tried to detain him after he tried to rob the store and before police arrived. Kostopoulos died of multiple injuries after his detention by police, which was also criticized by the prosecutor at the time for using undue force to detain him.

In his summary calling for jailing, the prosecutor said that “the two have shown no regrets – on the contrary, they appear not to have comprehended the criminality of their deed.” Kostopoulos, he said, “never attacked the defendants, since he was trapped and they were safe. It was proven they attacked him. Their actions and behavior show that no mitigating circumstance must be allowed for either.”