UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 17 APPEALS TRIAL

UNCLAS ATHENS 003226 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR EUR, EUR/SE, S/CT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV GR ANARCHISTS SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 17 APPEALS TRIAL REF: ATHENS 3065 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) Tensions at the 17 November (17N) appeals trial (reftel) rose sharply toward the end of the third week of proceedings when the court unanimously rejected defense motions to refer the case to a judge-jury criminal court. In a unanimous ruling read by presiding judge Vertelis, the court rejected the notion that the crimes of the terrorist organization were political and said the trial must proceed under the "common" Penal Code. The ruling triggered an outburst from 17N leader (and defendant) Alexandros Yiotopoulos, who immediately declared he was leaving the courtroom for the duration of the trial and letting his defense team go. ¶2. (SBU) In a statement read in court and distributed to reporters, Yiotopoulos, who strenuously denies having anything to do with 17N but was sentenced to 21 life terms in the original trial, declared he won't "legitimize" the trial by being present -- but he also announced he would still be pursuing whatever legal recourse is open to him "until the plot against me collapses." The convicted 17N leader accused the Americans of demanding from the GoG "through a demarche of their ambassador" that he is again convicted and sentenced as in the lower court. Yiotopoulos also blasted the court for rejecting all of the defendants' motions "without justification" and for "demonstrating with its behavior that it is an expediter of the guilty verdict." Earlier in the week, Yiotopoulos had told the court he disagrees with "the methods" of 17N, but not with its "political" philosophy. ¶3. (SBU) Lawyers representing families of the victims expressed concern that Yiotopoulos' move would inevitably delay the trial as the court appoints public defenders. Yiotopoulos, however, will continue on trial in absentia. ¶4. (SBU) Also in the news, Athens mayor Dora Bakoyianni, whose husband was slain by 17 November in 1989, gave an interview in which she called for a new action plan from the Greek Government to fight terrorism. In response to a question on whether 17N was still active, Bakoyianni said "The terrorism file in Greece has never closed. A crucial and important part of 17N's executive mechanism has been dismantled but not all questions have been answered. Everyone involved in criminal actions must answer to justice." One of Greece's most popular politicians, Bakoyianni, who is a key ally in our battle to keep domestic terrorism at the top of Greece's agenda, also criticized attempts by the 17N defendants to win sympathy and leniency from the courts and the public. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: The Yiotopoulos departure demonstrates the often liberal Greek court procedure that allows defendants in such critical trials latitude unimaginable in other Western courts. Between the Christmas break and appointing public defenders and giving them time to get familiar with the case, the trial should not be expected to resume before late in the second week of January 2006, unless the court acts with unusual haste. End Comment. COUNTRYMAN