UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 17 APPEALS TRIAL

UNCLAS ATHENS 003226

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TAGS: PTER PGOV GR ANARCHISTS
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 17 APPEALS TRIAL

REF: ATHENS 3065

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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