Romanos appeal denied

It is the third rejection of the request by Romanos whose hunger strike is entering its 30th day in protest of the decision to deny him leave.

Romanos is an avowed anarchist who was friends with Alexis Grigropoulos, the 15 year old who was murdered by a policeman on the streets of Athens on December 6th, 2008, in a killing that triggered widespread protests. Romanos was with Grigoropoulos on the night of the murder and many believe that his friend’s death helped push him towards his extreme anti-establishment views.

Romanos, 21, who is serving a fifteen year prison sentence for armed robbery of a bank, had gained a place at an Athens university after taking the pan-Hellenic high school exams as part of a prison educational program. Despite having been praised for his efforts by the Justice Minister himself and offered a meeting with the President of the Republic, Romanos’s application to the prison board for leave to attend the university was subsequently denied.

The legal justification for that decision was that other charges are pending against Romanos. According to the law governing educational prison leave, when applicants face charges, the magistrate pressing the charges must rule in favour of the application. However in Romanos’s case the magistrate ruled against it, stating that he believed Romanos posed a flight risk. Romanos subsequently filed an appeal with a Piraeus court who upheld the magistrate’s decision.

Now the Supreme Court deputy prosecutor has also upheld the magistrate’s, decision effectively dealing the final legal blow to Romanos’s request.