Zak Kostopoulos Zacharias "Zak" Kostopoulos ( gr, Ζαχαρίας «Ζακ» Κωστόπουλος; 22 August 1985 – 21 September 2018) was a Greek-American human rights activist, activist, defending the LGBT rights in Greece, rights of LGBT people, HIV-pos ...

was killed on a busy street near

Omonoia Square Omonoia Square (, ''Plateía Omonoías'', , "Concord Square", often simply referred to as ''Omónia'' ) is a central square in Athens. Forming the centre of Omonoia, Athens, Omonoia. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by th ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

during the day on 21 September 2018, first beaten by civilians and later by the police. The victim, an

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

activist in Greece, died on the way to the hospital. The suspects in the case are awaiting trial for inflicting fatal bodily harm.

Victim

Zak Kostopoulos (born 22 August 1985) was a Greek-American activist, for the rights of LGBT people, those who were

HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

, sex workers and refugees. He was also a

drag performer The term "drag" refers to the performance of exaggerated masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someone ( ...

under the name Zackie Oh.

Death

It is unknown how Kostopoulos entered the jewelry shop on Gladstonos street where his killing began. Another Greek LGBT activist, , said that he entered the shop to escape an altercation on the street. Videos of the killing show Kostopoulos unarmed and trying to escape from the store as he is being attacked by the store's owner and another man, a real estate agent who was a high-ranking member of the National Front. After the window was broken by the owner, Kostopoulos crawled out and fell to the ground after being kicked in the head. Police arrived at the scene. Despite Kostopoulos' injuries, the police apprehended and handcuffed him and also beat him. Kostopoulos died on the way to the hospital. Eyewitness Philippos Karagiorgis described the killing as a "

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

" and criticized onlookers for "watching as if it was a movie" instead of intervening.

Investigations

The police did not immediately arrest the perpetrators of the killing, interview all of the witnesses present, or seal off the crime scene. Therefore, the store owner had the opportunity to clean up potentially incriminating evidence. Initial Greek media reports said that Kostopoulos was a drug addict who was committing an armed robbery of the jewelry shop. However, a forensic analysis found no traces of drugs in his system and his fingerprints were not on any of the knives present at the scene of the crime. The coroner found that he had died of multiple injuries especially to his head. Kostopoulos' family commissioned the UK-based research center

Forensic Architecture Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world. The ...

to investigate his death. Forensic Architecture found that the police had overlooked twelve cameras that were recording the scene and failed to question a key witness who appeared in the footage. As a result of the Forensic Architecture investigation, the case was reopened in 2019. The trial of the shop owner, another man who was filmed beating Kostopoulos, and four police officers for inflicting "fatal bodily harm", started on 20 October 2021. The trial, which judge Giorgos Kassimis described as "historic", was originally scheduled for October 2020 but was delayed because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Kostopoulos' family wanted his death to be tried as murder. On 3 May 2022, two men were found guilty, while the four police officers who faced charges for their involvement were found innocent.

Legacy

Kostopoulos was buried in the town of Kirra where he grew up. In 2018, 2019, and 2021 people organized marches in Athens to commemorate Kostopoulos' death and call for justice against his killers. The slogan "Zackie lives, smash the Nazis" was chanted at events across the country.

Victim

Death

Investigations

Legacy

References

Notes

Further reading