ATHENS – A Mixed Jury Criminal Appeals Court on Friday handed down sentences of life and 15 years imprisonment on the two young men found guilty of the murder and gang rape of 21-year-old student Eleni Topaloudi, imposing the same sentence as that imposed by a lower court.

In a unanimous ruling, the judges imposed a life sentence for the homicide charge and an additional 15 years for the charge of gang rape, to the applause of women gathered in the courtroom to support the victim’s family.

Among those in the courtroom were the mothers of other murder victims, including Magda Fyssa, the mother of rapper Pavlos Fyssas killed by members of the far-right party Golden Dawn, and the mothers of two women killed by their partners on the islands of Folegandros and Mytilene.

Earlier on Friday, both judges and jury had returned a unanimous guilty verdict for the two defendants, aged 24 and 22 years old, respectively, and also unanimously refused to admit any mitigating circumstances presented by their defence counsel.