Examination of Katsifas’ Corpse by Greek Coroner Fails to Dispel Doubts

SManalysis

By Tasos Kokkinidis - Oct 31, 2018

Greek Reporter

The lawyer representing the family of Konstantinos Katsifas, the 35-year-old Greek who was killed on Sunday by Albanian police forces in the Northern Epirus village of Vouliarates, said that a Greek coroner was allowed to examine the victim’s corpse “only for 5 minutes.”

Speaking to reporters, Kostas Giovanopoulos said that Albanian authorities have interfered with the body, concealing important information that could shed light into the circumstances of his death.

“The body was washed and stitched up,” Giovanopoulos said.

He added that there two bullet wounds in the chest, but he did not appear to have been shot at point blank range, which may have indicated that he was executed after his arrest.

However, the body had no other visible wounds on the legs or the arms, which may suggest that no effort was made by the Albanian forces to apprehend him without killing him.

Albanian authorities had initially refused to allow coroner Theodoros Vougiouklakis to examine the body. Following diplomatic pressure from Athens, however, they finally allowed Tuesday’s brief visit to the morgue.

Omonoia, an organization representing Albania’s Greek minority, said the killing could have been averted, describing it as “a cold-blooded murder.” The organization accused Tirana of cultivating a “a psychological climate of violence” against the country’s Greek community.

On the other hand, Albanian media reports have described Katsifas as a “Greek extremist” out to harm Albania and who was doing the bidding of Greek nationalist circles in Greece, linking him to the far-right Golden Dawn party.