The two children of a UC Berkeley professor murdered in Athens last year are being held in a Greek state care facility after their mother died by suicide in custody — and their uncle is pleading with Greek and Polish authorities to allow the children to leave for Poland, where extended family is waiting in the city of Gdynia.
Łukasz Jeziorski travelled to Athens following the death of his former sister-in-law, a 43-year-old economist who took her own life after 11 months of pretrial detention.
She had been accused of orchestrating the July 2025 contract killing of her ex-husband, Przemyslaw Jeziorski, a Polish national who taught at UC Berkeley, during a custody dispute in the Athens suburb of Agia Paraskevi.
"My nephew held my hand, pleading for me to take him away, saying he cannot stay here any longer," Mr. Jeziorski said.
"I literally beg the authorities to grant the necessary departure permits."
He said the children — named Zoe and Angelo — are asking to leave immediately and described the ongoing institutional placement as causing deepening psychological harm.
Defence attorney Michail Dimitrakopoulos confirmed the mother's death and said administrative delays were keeping the children institutionalised.
Greek prosecutors and Polish consular officials are negotiating jurisdictional guardian arrangements to enable the children's repatriation.