The 89-year-old Athens shooter has been remanded in pre-trial custody, with the unanimous agreement of the examining magistrate and the prosecutor.

He has been charged with 3 felonies and 6 misdemeanors, and it will also be assessed whether he should be committed to a psychiatric facility, given his history. If remanded, he may be transferred to the psychiatric ward of Korydallos Prison.

A Decades-Long Grievance

In his court testimony, the defendant described a life defined by decades of work and a pension dispute that consumed him. He said he worked in Greece from 1952 to 1959 before emigrating, spending the next 48 years working in Germany and the United States. Upon returning to Greece, he applied for the pension he believed he was owed from IKA — now EFKA — which was rejected. He took the case to the Athens Court of First Instance, where he won a partial victory, but his appeal was subsequently dismissed because a €150 filing fee had not been submitted — a fee he says he was never informed he needed to pay.

He then took his fight to Brussels and later Strasbourg, filing a complaint against the Greek state. He also claims that IKA falsely reported to the German insurer AOK that he had only 37 contribution stamps, when in reality he had 472, a discrepancy that triggered a warning letter from Germany threatening to reclaim all the pension payments he had received. He traveled to Germany in person, presented the necessary documentation, and was ultimately vindicated, continuing to receive his German pension.

He recalled a German official asking him: “Is Greece a European country or an African one?”, a remark he said filled him with deep shame. He estimated he spent around €30,000 pursuing his legal battle. “This case destroyed me mentally and financially,” he told the court.

Planning the Attack

At some point, the 89-year old defendant sent a letter to the Athens Prosecutor warning that if his case was not resolved within six months, he would show up with a carbine. The letter resulted in a court-ordered 23-day involuntary psychiatric hospitalization at Dafni, after which, he says, no mental illness was diagnosed.

Police believe he had been planning the attack for years. He reportedly told officers he had purchased two weapons about five years ago from Roma individuals in the Kalamata area, and that he had modified the carbine himself — removing the stock and cutting down the barrel so it would fit concealed under his coat. He said he had originally planned to carry out the attack in winter, when he could wear his overcoat without raising suspicion, but kept postponing it. With May approaching and warmer weather coming, he decided to act on April 28.

He also reportedly conducted a prior reconnaissance visit to the Court of Appeals and had made arrangements to flee the country afterward. A ferry ticket for a sailing that afternoon to Ancona, Italy was found on him, and the taxi driver who had driven him to the EFKA office in Kerameikos that morning handed over to authorities a suitcase and backpack the man had left in the cab.

In Court

The 89-year old told the court he had no intention of killing anyone, which is why he fired at people’s legs. He said he wishes to compensate each victim with €2,000. During a prior confrontation with a prosecutor, he had reportedly said: “I’ll shoot you too.”