Galery

1

The net of the police is closing around the people who gave an order to George Roupakias to go to Amfiali and cause the deadly wounds to Pavlos Fyssas. Witness statements and data from the mobile phone of the offender showed that he had been instructed by superiors.

A few minutes before the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, Piraeus MP Yiannis Lagos had two telephone conversations with leader of the local branch of Golden Dawn in Nicaea George Patelis, as shown by the police inspection of phones. The same inspection showed that Patelis had at least 3 phone calls in those crucial minutes before the singer was killed by 45-year-old George Roupakias. According to sources of Ethnos newspaper, the offender made and received about 16 calls on his cell phone shortly before the murder. At least one of them was with the leader of the organisation in Nicaea.

Telephone contacts between George Patelis and MP Yiannis Lagos gave a new direction to the investigation and this may confirm what the former member of Golden Dawn said for the newspaper about activities of assault groups: "At Nicaea, we called Patelis, Patelis called Lagos and we were told that the leader gives the "OK."

The police are checking the rest of the phone calls and text messages received by the offender from 11 o’clock to 12 o’clock. Apparently, the majority of contacts were with representatives of Golden Dawn, not only in the region of Nicaea, but also from neighbouring municipalities, which were made by troops in the cafeteria in Amfiali, where the conflict began. The goal is to identify all members of Golden Dawn, who are responsible for the murder, and accuse them of being members of a criminal group.

The call that triggered the offender was also acknowledged in the testimony of his wife. According to her, Roupakias received a call on his cell phone during the game of Olympiakos. Afterwards, he left. About 15 minutes later, Roupakias arrived in Amfiali and stabbed Pavlos Fyssas two times with a knife, wounding him fatally.

Here arises the question as to when the perpetrator, who was arrested immediately, managed to notify his wife, so that she could remove all incriminating objects from their house. As explained by the police, during the arrest of those involved, chaos reigned at the murder scene. Golden Dawn members and hip-hoppers were brought into one and the same cell and their phones were not taken. Friends of the victim said that Roupakias sent messages and communicated with his people.

The police want to ascertain whether the leader of the local organisation was at the site of the murder, in order for him to be charged with complicity in it, or whether he was elsewhere. More information is expected on Monday, when the perpetrator’s phone check will be finished.

Meanwhile, by orders of the investigation and prosecution, Roupakias was detained in custody. He claimed that he protected himself and that he has a "distant" relationship with Golden Dawn, as well as that he regretted the act.

The prosecutor has filed charges of murder, illegal possession and carrying of firearms. According to information, the accused was transferred to the Central Police Station in Athens, from where he will be taken to Korydallos prison. During his three-hour testimony before the investigator on Saturday, Roupakias said that he had a distant relationship with Golden Dawn. His only connection to the organisation was that he participated in food distribution. He said that he had been involved in a left-wing movement in the past.

According to his testimony, he was having a cup of coffee in a café and later tried to leave in his car. At that moment, he was attacked by two unknown people and unintentionally used his knife. He added that he was alone. According to Roupakias, he did not aim at the victim, and regarding the phone call received in the cafeteria, he claimed that it was from a friend who had no connection with what happened.

According to sources, the accused was crying while he testified and said that he had plunged two houses into distress - his own and that of the poor man. Roupakias is married and has 2 children and works for a tanker company.