A Court in Ioannina charged eight out of nine defendants with prison sentences of 36 months and 150 hours community service for bulling 20-year-old Vangelis Giakoumakis, leading to his suicide. The ninth defendant was found not guilty. It was the worst known and most tragic cases of bullying in Greece.
The former students at the Diary School in Ioannina, Epirus in North-West Greece, were found guilty for violently and viciously bulling their fellow student Giakoumakis over a period of several months.
The victim of the bullying, Vangelis Giakoumakis, took his own life in March 2015.
His body was found at the shore of Pamfothida Lake
When he went missing from the dormitory of the Diary School a month earlier, police stepped in.
Investigation revealed that the shy young man fell victim to the continuous use of violence, intimidation. He was exposed to verbal harassment and threats, severe physical and psychological abuse by a group of his fellow students.
The bullying had reportedly started a year earlier and it was constant. Among other, Giakoumakis was locked in a cupboard, he was forced to sing like a “jukebox”, he was harassed in the showers, pushed down the stairs, he was almost suffocated with a belt.
A teacher had reportedly denounced the bullying case to the Dairy School authorities, but apparently no serious investigation took place, nor there was a punishment to the perpetrators.
This must have been on of Greece’s most terrible cases of bullying: a student fell victim of the continuous use of violence and intimidation by his fellow students. Beginning of February, Vaggelis Giakoymakis, 20, went missing, from the dormitory of Dairy School where he was studying in Ioannina, Northern Greece.
Police investigation revealed a shocking reality: that the shy young man was often exposed to the verbal harassment and threats and to severe physical and psychological abuse by a group of his fellow students.
The sentences are a little comfort for the parents who will never see their dear child again.
The five defendants with prison sentences have been given the option to buy off their prison term at a rate of 5 euros per day. That would a sum of over 5,000 euros for each.
All charged defendants appealed the verdict.
PS Hard-core bullies get away with 5,000 euros for which the parents will come up? Next time, judges could hand out lollipops, iphones and play stations….
