Two people suspected of murdering Greek investigative journalist Giorgos Karaiwaz in 2021 have been arrested in Athens, authorities said. According to Greek media, the brothers are 40 and 48 years old. They are also to be involved in another murder case.
The arrest was announced on Friday evening by the Minister of Civil Defense Takis Teodorikakos. “From the first moment, the authorities promised that the matter would be resolved, no matter how long it took,” the minister said.
On Saturday morning, both suspects testified at the prosecutor’s office, and a hearing before the investigating judge is scheduled for Wednesday.
At a press conference, police said the men used a scooter and a van to get to the scene of the killing and were then able to flee the scene. The van belongs to a company associated with the 48-year-old suspect. The brothers were also to be present at the crime scene the day before the murder.
Who was Giorgos Karaiwaz?
Giorgos Karaiwaz was a well-known investigative journalist covering organized crime. According to the Greek portal Ekathimerini, Karaiwaz had private and professional contacts in the Greek underworld and with corrupt policemen associated with it. He wrote about it extensively on his blog.
The journalist was shot dead on April 9, 2021 outside his home in Alimos, in the southern suburbs of Athens, as he was returning from a television studio. Many Greek media stopped broadcasting in connection with the murder of Karaiwaz. Over a dozen shell casings were found at the crime scene, and initial findings showed that the killers had used a silencer, as the local residents had not heard any shots.
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