Police search Athens clinic again in Giorgos Mazonakis death probe
Police, a prosecutor and lawyers for both sides are inspecting the Kolonaki clinic where singer Giorgos Mazonakis died. Investigators are examining four substances, and devices seized from his home are awaiting a court warrant to be opened.
A new search at the Kolonaki clinic
An on-site investigation ordered by the investigating magistrate is under way at the clinic on Karneadou Street in Kolonaki, Athens, where singer Giorgos Mazonakis died on 9 September. According to reporting, the 54-year-old singer died during plasmapheresis treatment at the clinic. Lawyers for the accused went up first, followed by three police officers, then a prosecutor with one other person, and lawyers for both sides attended throughout. Police officers said only that they had been sent to Kolonaki on instructions, and no official reason for the new search has been made public.
What investigators are looking for
Reporting says officers are searching for a blanket, a venous catheter and a propofol vial, items that surfaced after a witness statement on a television programme. Other reports say the prosecutor's order also covers substances that can induce drunkenness, which one of the doctors reportedly used to sedate patients before plasmapheresis. Four substances are at the centre of the inquiry: propofol, midazolam, alprazolam, sold as Xanax, and Anexate. Reporting on the findings says flumazenil, the antidote to midazolam, was added to the results, and that midazolam and propofol were also detected in the singer's body. The propofol vials have not yet been located, so where they came from and whether their supply was lawful remain open questions.
Expert explanation of the drug combination
Dimitris Manikis, an anaesthesiologist at Attiko Hospital, previously explained that midazolam can in some cases increase a patient's agitation instead of calming them, which may require extra sedatives such as propofol. He added that combining the two drugs can strengthen their sedative effect and the risk of complications, including apnoea. He also said that flumazenil counters midazolam but not propofol. Propofol is a strong intravenous anaesthetic used to induce and maintain anaesthesia, and it has no specific antidote.
Two doctors held and assets frozen
Two doctors are accused in the case and remain in pre-trial detention at Korydallos prison: a 56-year-old woman doctor and a 58-year-old doctor. The authority responsible for money laundering offences, headed by Charalampos Vourliotis, ordered the seizure of all of the two doctors' assets, including a bank safe deposit box they hold in Kolonaki. An earlier police search in September seized several case files, evidence and preparations, and officers left the Karneadou Street office carrying bags.
- Singer Giorgos Mazonakis dies at the Karneadou Street clinic
- Police search the clinic and seize files, evidence and substances
- Warrant to open phones and laptops seized from the singer's home is reported as issued
- New on-site inspection of the clinic begins with a prosecutor and lawyers present
Devices and pending results
The family's lawyer, Babis Lykoudis, told SKAI that final certified results were expected in the coming days, after a German laboratory was asked to analyse 1,600 pharmaceutical substances. Final toxicology and histopathology results are also expected to shed more light on the circumstances of the death, according to in.gr. Separately, police seized three mobile phones, a tablet and two laptops during searches of the singer's Voula home, which has been sealed. According to reporting, the devices were moved to the Forensic Investigation Directorate, and a warrant to open them has now been issued. Investigators hope the data will clarify the singer's contacts with a hypnotherapist and with the Karneadou doctors.