Man Convicted of Killing LGBTQ+ Activist Zak Kostopoulos Released
CNN Greece reports. The court cited the failing health of Hortarias’s wife and two relatives for whom he is responsible in its decision.
Hortarias, an estate agent, and jewelry shopkeeper Spyros Dimopoulos, 77, had each been sentenced to 10 years in jail following their convictions in May on lesser charges of “injury resulting in death” rather than murder.Hortarias is required to report to the police each month and cannot leave the country, according to the outlet.Kostopoulos, who was living with HIV, was brutally beaten to death by Hortarias and Dimopoulos, 77, the owner of a jewelry shop the 33-year-old activist and drag performer had quickly entered while fleeing from unknown attackers, the Guardian reports.Multiple video cameras captured the horrific assault, showing the first beating by the two, and a later assault by the arresting police officers who can be seen kicking Kostopoulos in the head multiple times as he lay on the ground.Police initially blamed Kostopoulos, saying he attempted to rob the store while under the influence of drugs.
It was later found there were no drugs in his system at the time of the assault and videos disproved the robbery claims.Only after Kostolopoulos’s family hired a private group to conduct its own investigation did the case move forward.
