A mixed juror-jurist court in Athens on Friday unanimously sentenced the principal defendant in the death of schoolboy Marios Souloukos to life imprisonment, nearly 10 years after the fatal shooting that killed the 11-year-old in the courtyard of his school in the west Athens district of Menidi (Acharnes)
The panel of judges and jurors adopted the prosecution’s recommendation, finding the defendant guilty of homicide with eventual intent and rejecting all requests for mitigating circumstances.
The court’s decision was unanimous. Presiding judges said the evidence led all members of the panel to the same conclusion.
A second defendant was acquitted of a charge of attempted homicide with eventual intent. The court accepted legal arguments that the specific allegation fell within the scope of an ineffective attempt, while changes to the relevant criminal provisions during the 2019-2021 period prevented a conviction on that count.
Young Souloukos was struck by a stray bullet during a school event at his school in June 2017. His death shocked Greece and became a symbol of concerns over gun violence and lawlessness in parts of the western working-class districts of the greater Athens-Piraeus agglomeration.
When the verdict was announced, the boy’s mother broke down in tears, crying out her son’s name, while relatives and friends who had attended the proceedings also reacted.
The court subsequently imposed the maximum sentence provided by Greek law, ruling that the gravity of the crime warranted life imprisonment – which under the current criminal code can very rarely exceed 25 years of incarceration.
The Souloukos case attracted nationwide attention and remained one of Greece’s most prominent unresolved criminal cases involving a child victim. Local media have repeatedly highlighted the lengthy judicial process and the broader debate over illegal firearms and celebratory gunfire that followed the boy’s death.
A raucous celebration was reportedly taking place at the time of the shooting in a nearby Roma settlement.
