Charges read in Greek terror trial
The chief prosecutor at the trial of 19 suspected members of Greece’s deadliest terror group read out the 2,000 charges against them today.
Christos Lambrou is leading the prosecution of the alleged November 17 cell, who are accused of carrying out more than 20 murders, including the killing of British defence attaché Brigadier Stephen Saunders.
Brigadier Saunders was gunned down as he drove to work in Athens in June 2000. His widow Heather was at the opening of the trial yesterday at a maximum security prison in the Greek capital.
The panel of three judges has ordered the removal of a bullet-proof screen around the defendants for the proceedings, which are expected to last months.
It could take an entire session just to read the accusations. The radical-nationalist group is blamed for more than 100 bombings, a string of armed robberies and 23 murders since it first struck in 1975.
In addition to Brigadier Saunders, the group’s victims also include four American envoys, two Turkish diplomats and prominent Greek business and political figures.
For more than a generation, authorities were unable to make any headway against the group. But a botched bombing last year led to a series of arrests.
The suspects on trial – 18 men and one woman – include alleged top hit men and the group’s suspected leader, French-born academic Alexandros Giotopoulos.
If convicted, the suspects face life in prison under anti-terrorism laws that were boosted ahead of the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
But not all the bloodshed claimed by November 17 will be addressed by the court. A 20-year statute of limitations means some acts – including the murder of a CIA station chief and two Greek police officials – will go unpunished.
The groups takes it name from a 1973 student-led uprising that was crushed by Greece’s military leaders. The seven-year dictatorship, which was backed by Washington as a buffer against communism, collapsed in 1974.
