ATHENS (WS News) – A Greek court ordered the pre-trial imprisonment on Friday of a prominent anarchist, the fourth suspect to face terrorism charges over a bomb explosion in an Athens flat that killed a man and hurt a woman last month, legal sources said.
The bomb went off as it was being made on Oct 31, severely damaging the residential building in an incident that the country’s anti-terrorism unit has linked with a revival of anti-establishment guerrilla group activities.
Charges laid against the four suspects detained so far, including the woman who was injured during the blast, range from setting up and participating in a terrorist group to illegal possession of explosives. All have denied wrongdoing.
The four include a 31-year-old self-proclaimed anarchist who was arrested on Monday after police found part of a fingerprint on a plastic bag.
“He denies the accusations, does not know any of the other defendants and has nothing to do with the blast,” his lawyer, Nikolas Aletras, said this week.
About 400 people protested in solidarity with the suspect outside the court.
Greece has a history of political violence by underground anarchist and leftist groups dating to the 1970s, targeting politicians, police, judges and diplomats.
Attacks increased after the police killing of a teenager in December 2008, in the run-up to the country’s debt crisis, but have eased in recent years.
Earlier on Friday, a 49-year old teacher was jailed pending trial over a cache of guns and explosives, including hand-grenades, firearms and more than 12 kg of explosives, found in a flat in central Athens this week.
