Prosecutor demands guilty verdict for Luqman killers

An Athens prosecutor has recommended that judges find Christos Stergiopoulos, 30, and Dionysis Liakopoulos, 26, guilty for the murder of Pakistani national Luqman Shahzad last year.

Luqman, 27, was stabbed seven times in January 2013 in the central Athens district of Petralona as he was cycling to work.

The defendants have denied the incident was racially motivated or that they were affiliated to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. They have argued that they got into a row with the victim after he allegedly got in their way with his bicycle. The two suspects were riding a scooter.

“These things don’t stand to reason. After committing the act, they left the scene of the crime calmly, with no sign of nerves or remorse. They did not head home, but to the center of Athens for a victory lap. I was astonished by their calm and cool reaction to the event,” the prosecutor said.