On Monday, friends, relatives, and the general public may be preparing to say their final “goodbye” to George Mazonakis—as his funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Nikaia—but at the same time, the future of the two accused doctors will be decided, as they are expected to appear before the investigating judge with a written statement and provide explanations for a series of unanswered questions surrounding the “lethal exposure.”
Under the “microscope” the authorities are focusing on the critical time period from when the hemodialysis machine shut down until the ambulance was called, and the two doctors are being asked to provide clear explanations regarding this specific point. How and why did it take them… 87 minutes to call for help?
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Another important piece of evidence is the photo taken with a cell phone showing Giorgos Mazonakis lying on his hospital bed. This raises two questions: For what purpose was the photo taken, and why was it subsequently deleted from the device just as the couple was arriving at the Kypseli Police Station to give their statements?
According to what has already come to light, the 58-year-old doctor is expected to claim that he was away having lunch at the time of the incident and that he was not involved in the treatment, while his wife, on the other hand, will attribute the contradictions to “the panic of the moment.” Regarding the medical equipment, they will maintain that they had duly notified the Athens Medical Association (ISA).
The file containing the digital evidence
is with the investigator. Meanwhile, as of Sunday afternoon (September 13), the file containing the digital evidence recovered by officials from the Hellenic Police’s forensic laboratories—who thoroughly searched the clinic’s equipment, as well as cell phones.
The file in the investigating judge’s possession contains a photograph recovered from the doctor’s cell phone showing Giorgos Mazonakis lying in a bed at the private clinic, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, with an IV in his right arm and his eyes closed. The photo is considered crucial evidence, as it will determine whether and at what time the plasmapheresis procedure began for Giorgos Mazonakis, as well as whether the photograph was taken while the singer was still alive or not.
Reports indicate that the photograph was sent to an experienced medical examiner, who was asked to examine it carefully and determine—if possible— — whether Giorgos Mazonakis was already dead.
The taxi
driver’s testimony is “putting the doctors on the spot.” After all, the last person to see Giorgos Mazonakis shortly before he entered the Kolonaki clinic was the taxi driver, whose testimony is “key” to the progress of the investigation and to cross-checking his arrival time against the claims made by the accused doctors.
The driver has already given a statement to the police, and his account stands in direct contrast to the doctors’ claims.
Speaking to Mega, he specifically stated that he picked up Giorgos Mazonakis from his home in Voula to take him to Kolonaki.
On the way, he asked to stop at a pharmacy to pick something up, and they continued on until he dropped him off at the clinic in Kolonaki at 1:55 p.m. It should be noted that the two doctors had claimed they arrived at 4:00 p.m.
“I did what I had to do—tell the truth, my own truth, regarding my client. I don’t know if justice will be served, or if his family will find it. We have to say goodbye to Giorgos tonight, and tomorrow he’s gone. Both for his family and for us,” said the taxi driver, who wishes to remain anonymous.
“They might not even go to prison.”
For its part, the family of Giorgos Mazonakis has announced it will appear in court to support the charges. Their attorneys will request that the charge be upgraded to manslaughter with possible intent, as well as the immediate lifting of telephone privacy protections for the two doctors involved.
In fact, Giorgos Mazonakis’s attorney, Charalambos Lykoudis, speaking to ERT, stated that upgrading the charge to murder with intent is necessary, since under the current charge of “fatal exposure,” it is highly likely that the two doctors will not even go to prison.
Penalties for “fatal exposure”
Since Friday night, the two doctors have been charged with a particularly serious criminal offense—“fatal exposure”—which is not the same as manslaughter. The authorities are seeking to determine whether, through act or omission, a situation was created for the well-known artist—who was under the protection or medical care of the defendants—in which Giorgos Mazonakis was left helpless and exposed to danger, ultimately resulting in his death.
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The basic form of the offense involves someone who “exposes” a person and thereby leaves them helpless. Article 306 of the Penal Code also covers the case in which someone leaves a person who is under their protection—or toward whom they have an obligation to provide care or assistance—helpless.
Article 306 of the Penal Code specifically provides:
Anyone who endangers another person and thereby renders them helpless, as well as anyone who leaves helpless a person under their protection or whom they are obligated to support, care for, or transport, or a person whom they themselves have injured through their own fault, shall be punished by imprisonment for at least six months.
If the act caused the victim:
a) serious bodily injury, the punishment shall be imprisonment for at least three years;
b) death, a prison term of up to ten years shall be imposed.
What Applies in the Case of “Manslaughter by Possible Malice”
However, if the request by the family of Giorgos Mazonakis is granted and the charges against the two doctors are upgraded, their legal position will worsen dramatically, as they will face the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The difference between the two offenses concerns both the range of penalties and the legal definition of culpability.
In the case of manslaughter with possible intent (for which an upgrade is sought), Article 299 of the Penal Code provides that the defendant shall be punished exclusively with life imprisonment.
In the case of fatal exposure, the reasoning is that the defendants left a person under their care (e.g., a patient), causing their death, without, however, intending or accepting from the outset that the fatal outcome was a possible consequence of their conduct.
In manslaughter with possible intent, the court must accept that the doctors foresaw that their acts or omissions (such as the delay in notifying the emergency medical service, seeking resuscitation instructions via artificial intelligence, or the procedures performed during bloodletting) could lead to the singer’s death, and yet they reconciled themselves to this possibility and accepted it.
It should be clarified that in a case of manslaughter with possible intent committed in a calm state of mind, the defendants do not face a specific number of “years” in prison, but rather the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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However, in practice, the final sentence can be modified only through two legal avenues:
Recognition of Mitigating Circumstances: If the court recognizes mitigating circumstances for the defendants (e.g., a history of law-abiding behavior), the life sentence is “broken” and reduced. In this case, the sentence is converted to a fixed-term imprisonment of 5 to 15 years (or up to 20 years, depending on the combination of provisions).
Actual Sentence Served (Release): Even if a life sentence is definitively imposed, the convicted person does not remain in prison forever. Under the current legal framework, in order to be eligible to apply for conditional release, a person must have served at least 18 years of actual imprisonment.
All-night vigil at the popular shrine
Meanwhile, at the Holy Trinity Church in Nikaia on Sunday evening, crowds continued to gather to bid farewell to Giorgos Mazonakis, whose body lay in state until noon on Monday, the day and time of his burial.
As the car carrying his body slowly approached the church, his song “Ores Mikres” played over the loudspeakers, and the gathered crowd chanted “immortal” while showering the black coffin with flowers.
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In the church courtyard, where his friends and fans began gathering early Sunday afternoon to say their goodbyes, there were many moving moments.
Hundreds of people, with tears in their eyes, holding flowers, and singing his greatest hits, rushed to say their final goodbyes to the beloved artist.
His body will lie in state until 1:00 p.m. on Monday. The funeral service will be held in the presence of the public, while his burial will take place in a private family ceremony at the Third Cemetery in Nikaia.
The public sang Mazonakis’s beloved hits in unison, including “Ores Mikres” and “Feugo alla….”
