In the months to follow, the sentence is postponed several times and finally never carried out as the case had taken on media interest in Greece and abroad, and the killing of Alekos would result in serious damage to the regime's image.

Exposed to the elements, forced into a limited space and periodically subjected to torture, after years of imprisonment and ill-treatment Panagoulis is set free.

Released from prison, Panagoulis is disputed by both the right and left, but he realizes that the current democracy is fake and understands that the parliament is subjugated (albeit indirectly) by the power of the military dictatorship now represented by a new colonel.

Since he does not want to side with the right that is in government and directly controlled by the dictatorship nor with the left that wants to indoctrinate him to align his ideas with those of the party, he decides to join the weaker faction: the Centre Union – New Forces.

It is in this period that he is able to take possession of numerous documents of the Greek secret services and puts himself in open hostility with the present ruler of the new dictatorship: the defense minister Evangelos Averoff.

In the months immediately following Panagoulis' death, the Greek government does not support the evidence of the murder and declares the event only a tragic accident.