Epameinondas Korkoneas

A court's reduction of the life prison sentence of Greek Police special officer Epameinondas Korkoneas, who in 2008 murdered for no reason 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in the Athens neighbourhood of Exarheia, has raised a number of questions and has provoked public opinion.

Some 30 hooded individuals clashed with police in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia on Wednesday night, marring an otherwise peaceful protest over the release from prison of a police officer who shot and killed a teenager in the area in 2008.

The life sentence handed down to former policeman Epameinondas Korkoneas for the killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was overturned by a Greek court today.

Korkoneas shot dead Grigoropoulos on 6 December, 2008.

The murder sparked many days of rioting in Athens and around the country.