An Athens appeals court reduced from 21 years to 12 years the jail sentence of a prominent member of the extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) group for the attempted murder of left-wing student Dimitris Kousouris, who was seriously injured in an attack at a cafe outside the capital’s main court complex in June 1998.

Antonios Androutsopoulos, better known as Periandros, was cleared of charges of attempted murder against two other students.

Right-wing supporters of the defendants and leftists scuffled outside the court following the verdict. Androutsopoulos will be be up for parole at the end of the year.