Free on restrictive terms and without being taken to prison were left, after 6-hour marathon apology, the four police officers of the team of Chania accused of his death case 58-year-old Kostas Manioudakis, who died during a police check in Apokoronas on September 1, 2023.
The interrogator and the prosecutor considered that there were no grounds for temporary detention, however imposing restrictive conditions. In particular, the ban on leaving the country for all defendants was decided; while two police officers were granted a financial guarantee of 20,000 euros and the other two a guarantee of 5,000 euros.
According to the Court of Justice's ruling, it was reported that it had the video material included in the case, which was assessed in conjunction with the explanations of the four police officers, the deposits and the other elements of the case. According to the same information, this material was assessed not to indicate the need to safeguard the defendants.
The case had shocked Crete, as the death of Costas Manioudakis had initially been attributed to cardiac arrest. From the first moment, however, his family questioned this version, arguing that the 58-year-old had been hit during the audit, calling for the investigation of the conditions under which he lost his life.
In 2024 criminal charges were brought against the four police officers for manslaughter with a possibility of deceit, in a calm mental state and together, while the forensic expert played a key role in the development of the case. According to the support side of the category, the findings of the report are not consistent with the possibility of a simple fall after sickness.
Family advocate Manolis Papadomanolakis had argued that the injuries brought by the 58-year-old to the head, even in places covered by a hat, cannot be attributed to a fall of the same height, considering that forensic findings overturn the original image of the case.
On the other hand, since the first moment, Peter Mantuvalos' law firm and the defence advocate of the police, Constantine Giannelakis, have consistently argued that the four police officers are innocent and that the video material in the file proves that They had no involvement or liability in the death of Kostas Manioudakis.
The four police officers continue to categorically deny what is attributed to them, with their defensive line relying, inter alia, on the evidence of the case and on the visual material examined by the judicial authorities.
The case is now entering a new phase, with Justice to be asked to give definitive answers the circumstances of the death of Costas Manioudakis, and until the final judgment the presumption of innocence applies to the four accused police officers.