Suspects in murder released to attend victim's funeral

The accused are Greeks, Albanians and Greeks from former USSR countries, most of them living in Diavata, who allegedly participated in the scuffle between two groups of young people on Sunday night. Police are taking into consideration the possibility of another episode of a beating, a little 24 hours earlier, that may be linked to Sunday's episode.

The nine detainees were taken to the Prosecutor's Office of Thessaloniki, where they were accused of participating in clashes. One of them was referred to a juvenile court, while the others were docked in the single-member court of first instance, from which they demanded and got a postponement for a trial on Thursday.

Initially, the judge, on a proposal by the prosecutor's office, decided not to release the detainees until trial. But most of the accused, who were friends of the victim, responded and said they wanted to go to the 22-year-old's funeral, which will be held tomorrow afternoon. Thus, the court decided to lift their detention.

According to the preliminary data, the 22-year-old received a knife hit to the chest, which proved fatal. His friends carried him to the Diabata Health Center, where he expired.