ending Greek Terror & sword of damacles.

international | crime and justice | news report Monday December 08, 2003 17:28 by no verse today

Athens has just passed sentance on 15 members November17.

with the words "I think the chapter of terrorism in Greece is finally over," Michalis Tsinisizelidis, political science professor at Athens University has led reaction to the long awaited trial in the wider english speaking world.

Three judges delivered the verdicts at the end of a marathon trial involving 19 accused members of November 17. The defendents were placed in custody between 15 and 16 months ago. There was no jury because terrorism charges were involved.
4 were found not guilty, Iincluding the wife of the convicted chief assassin.

Three judges delivered the verdicts at the end of a marathon trial involving 19 accused members of November 17. There was no jury because terrorism charges were involved.

The 15 guilty were convicted of nearly 2,500 crimes ranging from murder to possession of arms, bank robberies and membership of a criminal organization.

The leader of the group Alexandros Giotopoulos, 59, was convicted of 961 of 963 charges. Including 19 murders. Giotopoulos was well known in Greece as his father was a key member of the Trotskyist party.

November 17 claimed 23 killings in all, starting with Athens CIA station chief Richard Welch in 1975, and eluded police until a bungled bombing in 2002. It was thought by many that they had disbanded. But with the assasination of a British military ataché (Saunders 2000) their profile was raised again and Greece won the support of many Western States in it's post September 11 "war on terror". It would be disingenious not to suggest that many recent occurences of oppression, breaches of human, judicial and civil rights in the Greek state found as their "justification" the continuing dis-articulation of November 17.
And it is very necessary to understand the currents that have prosecuted that "dis-articulation" of a marxist armed grouplet that emerged during the military junta, whose memory still divides the Greek people. It is necessary to ponder because those same currents have likewise had an excessive effect on completely unrelated cases.

The present mayor of Athens and host of next year's Olympics, Dora Bakoyiannis spoke earlier today:

"Greek justice spoke today. Its decisions are respected by all," she said. "But our people will not be coming back."

Her husband was killed by the group in 1989.

It would be hypocritical not to write that many times Greek society has found itself on the "terrorist" list. Like in Ireland amongst other countries, the same root causes of poverty and inequality have found fertile ground with potent other causes of conflict and twisted bitter roots. But unusual amongst European countries Greek "terror" had an anti-American strategy. Between 1975 and 1991 five US services personel or diplomats were killed, but the Greek authorities have ruled out any extradition of the November 17 group to the USA.

It is a sign of other problems that this last weekend the international Greek community have had to come to terms with the fatal shooting of a youngman who ran a roadblock in Crete, and a racist attack on Greeks in Germany which resulted in two deaths.

Greek society appears to be one that has sadly internalised much violence in it's modern history, one of our European partners that more than any other appears to be "having certain problems adjusting" to the 21st century. But one group composed of such people as an academic, a family trotskyist, four sons of an Orthodox priest, an odd jobs man, and a beekeeper are confined to "history".


death in Crete:

http://thessaloniki.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=16353
racist attack in Germany
http://germany.indymedia.org/2003/12/69157.shtml
continuing protests for Thessalonika 7.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/12/282543.html