In its reasoning to order the return to jail of convicted November 17 leader Alexandros Giotopoulos, less than three weeks after he walked free, the Supreme Court has said that the law requires prisoners serving multiple life sentences to complete 25 years before becoming eligible for conditional release.
Giotopoulos, 82, who was serving 17 life sentences plus an additional 25 years, was released from Korydallos Prison on May 21 after serving about 24 years in custody.
In its 26-page ruling published Tuesday, the court said the new Criminal Code applied in this case, not an older law that said 19 years was required before multiple lifers could be released.
In their ruling, the judges also said that while Giotopoulos had complied with the terms of six periods of prison leave in the past and had acquired three degrees in mathematics from a French university during his imprisonment, this established that he demonstrated “good behavior” but not “good conduct, in the sense of true positive behavior, which stems from the inward acceptance of the rules of appropriate demonstrative behavior.”
The ruling noted that Giotopoulos has neither accepted responsibility for his crimes nor expressed remorse, a factor the court said could indicate incomplete moral reform
