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Harry Maguire is on the loose while appealing the verdict, but faces wider repercussions. He was convicted of assaulting police officers on mykonos Island, but tells a very different story.
By Marc Santora and Iliana Magra
A star sportsman. An $82,000 bill at a restaurant before a drunken meeting on a sunny island, a fight, arrests and, a week later, a conviction, but no conclusion.
The saga of Harry Maguire, the Manchester United captain who discovered guilty through a Greek court on Tuesday of various charges, has captivated Britain even though much of the incident remains embroiled in confusion.
After the verdict that convicted him of annoying aggression, resisting arrest and corruption, Maguire, 27, appealed the resolution and posted a social media appointment attributed to Buddha.
“Three things are hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. “
Although the fact can be discovered in spite of everything, it will possibly remain out of sight for some time and for many observers of the high-profile scandal, the fact of the moment varies depending on the point of view.
The case through Greek prosecutors is as follows:
At the end of last week, on the whitewashed streets of the ancient town of Mykonos Island, civilian-clad police officers were lured through a riot. Maguire and his party members were belligerent and confronted the police, verbally insulting and physically assaulting them, authorities said.
During the one-day trial that followed on the nearby island of Syros, the capital of the Cycladic island chain, the court learned that Mr. Maguire had tried to use his fame and wealth to get out of trouble. according to media reports.
“Do you know who I am?” said, at the prosecutor’s account. ” I’m the captain of Manchester United. I’m very rich. I can give you money. I can pay you, let us go. “
Mr Maguire’s defence team denied that they had said such a thing and presented a completely different edition of the facts.
In his account, Mr. Maguire had clashed last night with belligerent hooligans. Attempting to galvanize Mr. Maguire, they sang songs about one of the most tragic moments in the history of Manchester United, the team’s 1958 plane crash in Munich, which resulted in the deaths of 23 team members and staff.
The next night, Maguire’s organization confronted the same men. Then things took a darker turn, according to Maguire.
Mr. Maguire’s friend Ashden Morley told the court that Mr. Maguire’s sister, Daisy, had been contacted through “two Albanian aviators” while some members of the organization were going to buy skewers.
He testified that Ms. Maguire’s eyes were “rolling” on her head, which led the organization to worry that she had slipped or injected herself with some form of “rape drug. “
“All the women started screaming, other people were coming and there was a real commotion,” Morley said in court, according to media reports.
Mr. Maguire and his friends tried to get out in a minibus that the football star had rented, but were arrested by a men’s organization in two cars.
“The door opened through a man, ” said Morley. “We thought we were robbed or kidnapped. All very scared.
The men who stopped the minibus might have been cops, but if they did, Maguire and his friends didn’t know it, argued the defense, who described the police as the assailants, but the court did not convince.
Mr. Maguire was convicted and sentenced to 21 months and 10 days in prison, the sentence was suspended for 3 years while situations of lawsuits were taking place, two of Mr Maguire’s affiliates were also sentenced and sentenced to thirteen months in prison, also suspended for 3 years.
“I remain strong and confident about our innocence in this matter, in any case, myself, my circle of family and my friends are the victims,” Maguire said in a statement.
In fact, it may be years before the case passes to the country’s appeals court, to a Greek lawyer.
The initial trial and conviction, a few days after the altercation, took position so temporarily due to a Greek judicial procedure that it allows the quick trial of those who have been caught red-handed.
Christos Mylonopoulos, professor of law at the University of Athens and president of the European and International Criminal Law Institute, said that if an appeal were filed within 10 days of the conviction, its solution could take years. said, will have the workload of the justice system.
Since Mr. Maguire was convicted only of felonies under Greek law, the court has up to 8 years to hear the case again, Sir. Mylonopoulos.
Manchester United said that because the court accepted Maguire, he was presumed not to be at fault and was on the loose pending a full new trial.
But for Maguire, the consequences are immediate: suspended from betting with the English national team for at least two games, and his long career questioned.
Manchester United have defended their star player, for which they paid more than $100 million to beat Leicester City in the English Premier League, earning more than $230,000 a week, and the team said on Wednesday that they will remain the team’s captain. Being for the time being.
The team, one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, finished third in the Late Premier League season through a pandemic that ended last month, which earned it a spot in the prestigious Champions League, the annual tournament among European clubs.
While Maguire’s playing career is the biggest fear of fans, the politics of the saga have been motivated through reports on the luxurious way of life of a privileged few.
In particular, the main points of the $82,000 tab for a five-hour bacchanal at the elegant SantAnna Beach Club have been analyzed through reports in the British and Greek media.
More than $60,000 of the bill covered the expensive champagne, according to reports, and most of the rest was spent on lobster, steak and cocktails.
It’s worth spending a day on the beach, but that’s only a fraction of Mr. Maguire’s cargo in Greece.
Marc Santora back from London and Iliana Magra from Athens. Tariq Panja contributed to the report from London.
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