ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The release of Alexandros Giotopoulos, the convicted leader of the far-left militant group November 17, has sparked significant controversy in Greece. Giotopoulos, 82, was freed from a high-security prison in Athens on Thursday, prompting a senior prosecutor to review the decision.
The judicial panel’s decision to release Giotopoulos was based on his advanced age, declining health, and good behavior during his imprisonment. However, this decision has been met with backlash, leading to a potential legal challenge from Greece’s Supreme Court.
The group’s violent history
November 17 operated clandestinely for over a quarter of a century, engaging in bombings, assassinations, and bank heists. Their first known act was the assassination of Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens, in 1975. The group’s operations were exposed following a failed bombing in 2002, which left a member critically injured and led to the unraveling of their network.
Giotopoulos, who was living under a false identity in Paris before his arrest, received 17 life sentences plus an additional 25 years for orchestrating a series of violent acts. Despite his conviction in 2003, which was upheld in 2007, he has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming that his co-defendants were coerced into testifying falsely against him in exchange for reduced sentences.
Educational pursuits and compliance
During his time in prison, Giotopoulos engaged in academic studies through university correspondence courses and adhered to the conditions of his temporary releases. This history of compliance was among the factors considered in the decision to grant him conditional release.
November 17, named after the 1973 student uprising against the Greek military junta, took responsibility for multiple high-profile attacks, including the assassinations of two Turkish Embassy officials and Stephen Saunders, the British defense attaché in Athens in 2000. Of the 15 original members convicted, three remain incarcerated.
