Appeal trial on Grigoropoulos murder underway in Lamia

The ongoing appeal trial on the murder of schoolboy Alexandros Grigoropoulos 11 years ago continued in the city of Lamia on Thursday with the testimony of Epaminondas Korkoneas, the former officer convicted to life imprisonment for the killing in the first trial in 2010.

Grigoropoulos was shot dead on 6 December 2008 in the Athens neighbourhood of Exarchia. His death sparked a wave of riots in the Greek capital and is commemorated every year with a protest march on the day of his death.

"I would like to express my great devastation. I want to express my condolences to the mother and the siblings [of Grigoropoulos] for the passing of the child's father. I would like to change the course of events, if I could," Korkoneas told the court.

The trial is expected to conclude by Friday and a ruling will be issued by the end of the month.