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Harry Maguire’s appeal hearing in Greece is likely to be postponed this year as the country’s judicial system has stalled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Maguire was found guilty of assaulting police, verbal abuse and attempted bribery by a court on the Greek island of Syros in August 2020 and was expected to return this summer to appeal the conviction.
However, a court official has revealed that the £ 85 million star will not be returning to Greece for a hearing this year as the number of court cases has risen due to the pandemic and they are only hearing claims of ” emergency”.
“Only emergency cases are carried out,” the official told The Guardian.
“We have a delay that goes back several years and every week there are postponements. It is very likely that this case will not be heard for all of 2021 ‘.
As a result, Maguire will be able to focus on a few busy months of soccer, which will include the European Championship, before he is asked to return to Greece.
Maguire was arrested by a team of undercover police recruited from mainland Greece to attack organized crime in Mykonos last summer.
The incident came after claims that two Albanian men had injected the star’s sister from England while waiting for a minibus on the Fabrika part of the island.
As a result, a fight broke out, including his brother Joe and his friend Christopher Sharman.
The 28-year-old, who was found guilty of assaulting and trying to bribe the Greek police, denied the allegations and claimed he was the victim within hours of the court ruling.
Maguire also told the BBC that he thought he was being kidnapped by fake policemen in Mykonos and that he tried to flee ‘in fear for his life’ after he was hit in the legs and told ‘he would not play again’.
Maguire launched an immediate appeal after receiving a suspended prison sentence for his participation in the fight on the holiday island.
Under Greek law, an appeal will see Maguire undergo a new trial and the higher court will have up to eight years to hear the case.
However, when he does so there, Maguire will face a three-member panel of judges from the court of appeals on the island of Syros.
Although legal proceedings could take place until 2028, Panaghiotis Poulios, the island’s chief prosecutor, has said he wants the case to be closed sooner rather than later.
He said, “My clients want to see the end of this matter.”
While the lawyer, who represented two of the policemen during the one-day trial last year, has reiterated the fact that Maguire would be treated “with more leniency” if he apologized for the incident.
“In Greek criminal law, if you apologize, if you accept that you are guilty, you are treated with more leniency,” he told The Guardian.
“My clients were just doing their job and were injured in the incident. They still wait for an apology and live with the hope that, before long, I will tell them I’m sorry. ”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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