Leader of Greece’s November 17 Terror Group Giotopoulos Released After 24 Years

Giotopoulos (center) during his trial. Front near is Koufontinas who remains successful prison. Credit: AMNA

Convicted person of the now-defunct November 17 (17N) violent radical Alexandros Giotopoulos, 82, was released from situation connected Thursday nether strict conditions.

Giotopoulos, known arsenic “Lambros,” was sentenced successful 2003 to 17 beingness presumption and an further 25-year situation condemnation for motivation work successful 17 murders, arsenic good arsenic for engagement successful bombings, equipped robberies and information successful a violent organization.

A Greek appeals tribunal approved his merchandise Thursday, imposing conditions including a prohibition connected leaving the country, mandatory quality astatine a section constabulary presumption each 15 days and a request to support a imperishable residence.

Giotopoulos’ precocious property and bully behavior

Sources bespeak that the decisive factors successful the court’s determination were Giotopoulos’s precocious property and the information that helium had served astir the maximum existent situation clip required by law, which ineligible experts enactment is 25 years.

Judges besides weighed his exemplary behaviour during incarceration, arsenic helium committed nary disciplinary infractions. Instead, the antheral known wrong 17N arsenic “Lambros” dedicated himself to world studies, earning some a master’s grade and a PhD successful mathematics from a French assemblage portion down bars. Furthermore, since 2022—after 2 decades of strict confinement—he had been granted regular situation leaves, each of which helium completed without incident.

Giotopoulos was “the brain” down the 17N violent group

Giotopoulos was the implicit person and “brain” down the enactment from its inception until July 17, 2002. The Counter-Terrorism Unit arrested him connected the land of Lipsi, wherever helium had been surviving nether the alias “Michalis Oikonomou.”

His condemnation covers the instigation of 17 assassinations, including those of Apogevmatini steadfast Nikos Momferatos and his operator Panagiotis Rousetis (1985), Halivourgiki enforcement Nikos Aggelopoulos (1986), businessman Alexandros Athanasiadis-Bodosakis (1988), New Democracy MP Pavlos Bakoyannis (1989), shipowner Kostis Peratikos (1997), and British Brigadier Stephen Saunders (2000), among others.

To this day, Giotopoulos firmly denies immoderate engagement with November 17 and rejects the rubric of radical leader. During his entreaty defense, helium reiterated his innocence, calling the lawsuit against him a “conspiracy.”

Following Giotopoulos’s release, lone 3 17N members stay incarcerated: Dimitris Koufontinas (serving 11 beingness sentences positive 25 years) and the brothers Savvas and Christodoulos Xiros (serving 5 and six beingness sentences respectively, positive 25 years).