ATHENS – Arrest warrants have been issued for four suspects in the brutal beating of Greek-Canadian Emmanuel Kakoulakis, 46, who is still hospitalized after the attack on July 16 left him with severe head injuries requiring 60 stitches. The public prosecutor of Heraklion brought criminal charges against all four suspects for attempted homicide with complicity and for causing dangerous bodily harm with complicity and consecutively, according to ertnews.gr.

Two of the bullies, a 31-year-old from Zoniana and a 32-year-old from Gazi, who beat the Greek-Canadian father and financial advisor over a remark about cigarettes have been identified but have not yet been arrested.

The other two suspects have not yet been identified, although on July 24 a large police operation took place in Mylopotamos, Rethymno, to locate them, but without any result.

The case file was filed at the 1st Police Department of Heraklion and was forwarded on July 23 to the prosecutor’s office of Heraklion.

After the criminal prosecution, the case passed into the hands of the investigator who issued the arrest warrants.

Earlier reports noted that the five who beat up the Greek-Canadian were hiding in an ‘avato’, i.e. ‘impassable’ village, noting the Cretan tradition of ‘sasmos’ with which vendettas were ended that still plays an important role in conflict resolution. A decisive role in achieving such a truce is played by the mediators or ‘sastades’ – people who are known to have authority and undertake to mediate in order to reach a compromise.

Following the brutal beating of Kakoulakis by a group of Cretans in Heraklion, a few such mediators took it upon themselves to convince the victim and his family to not pursue the case legally, but to find, some kind of solution, probably out of court, so that the five perpetrators avoid prison. As they rightly suspected that the suspects would be accused of trying to kill the Greek-Canadian because of the brutality they showed, furiously beating him with chairs, punches, and kicks, while he was already down and covered in blood.

Despite the efforts of the ‘mediators’, however, the victim’s family is still determined to seek justice. The two suspects were already identified through video that proves their involvement in the bloody attack, while there were also dozens of witnesses present. Despite all this, the perpetrators remain elusive, having found refuge in an abandoned village in Crete.

The local police are continuing the investigation. The people of Crete are shocked and calling for strict observance of the laws and punishment for those responsible. The attack on the Greek-Canadian which took place in front of his children, has shocked all of Greece, increasing the pressure for the immediate arrest and punishment of the perpetrators.

The victim’s lawyer, Manolis Troulis, has stated to Protothema.gr that the family will do whatever is necessary to hold the perpetrators accountable and punish them in an exemplary manner.

At the same time, with a supplementary memorandum that he submitted and is accompanied by photographic material of the head injuries he suffered, Kakoulakis had requested, through his lawyer, that the perpetrators be prosecuted for attempted homicide and that arrest warrants be issued immediately, in order for the suspects to be brought before an investigator and prosecutor. As the lawyer noted, the perpetrators had homicidal intent, wanting to take the life of his client.

Anti-violence initiative

In the meantime, as Neakriti.gr reported, as some unanswered tragedies and murderous incidents have been recorded in Crete recently, bringing back to the fore the negative image of the island, agencies, led by the mayors, are taking initiatives to do something and put an end to the violence. They are trying to change the minds of those few who self-destructively stick to their own Cretan pattern of life and behavior, which has nothing to do with the real tradition of Crete, its ‘levendia’ and hospitality.