Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ATHENS910
2008-06-26 11:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Athens
Cable title:
ONE MORE TIME: 17 NOVEMBER TERRORISTS APPEAL - AGAIN
how-toVZCZCXRO3714 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTH #0910 1781118 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 261118Z JUN 08 FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2064 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS ATHENS 000910
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL GR
SUBJECT: ONE MORE TIME: 17 NOVEMBER TERRORISTS APPEAL - AGAIN
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
UNCLAS ATHENS 000910
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL GR
SUBJECT: ONE MORE TIME: 17 NOVEMBER TERRORISTS APPEAL - AGAIN
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (SBU) Eight of 13 convicted members of the Greek terrorist
organization "17 November," which was responsible for 23 murders
including five U.S. Embassy employees during a twenty-year period
from the mid-1970s to earlier this decade, filed appeal briefs with
the Arios Paghos Supreme Court on June 19, one day before the
expiration of a deadline on appeals.
2. (SBU) The eight convicts, serving multiple life or lengthy
prison sentences, include: 17N leader Alexandros Yiotopoulos, Savvas
Xyros, Vasilis Xyros, Christodoulos Xyros, Vasilis Tzortzatos,
Patroklos Tselentis, Heracles Kostaris, and Kostas Telios. The
three Xyros brothers, 17N's primary killers, were all convicted on
murder, explosives, and conspiracy charges. Tzortzatos (who
consistently claimed he was tortured into confessing),Tselentis,
Kostaris, and Telios were all convicted on murder and explosives
charges in addition to felonies such as attempted murder and armed
robbery. Chief assassin and 17N quartermaster Dimitris Koufodinas
declined to appeal.
3. (SBU) In their lengthy briefs, the eight 17N convicts appealed a
May 2007 lower appellate court verdict, which had upheld 218 of 219
felony convictions. In this latest appeal, the terror convicts
claimed various grounds for seeking an overturn of their
convictions, including alleged flaws in the evidentiary process,
incompetence of the court, breach of procedure regarding the
publicity of the trial, lack of clear reasoning in reaching a guilty
verdict, and other such reasons. With this appeal, the eight will
exhaust all judicial recourse in Greece. Their next possible step
would be to file papers with the European Court of Human Rights.
SPECKHARD
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL GR
SUBJECT: ONE MORE TIME: 17 NOVEMBER TERRORISTS APPEAL - AGAIN
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (SBU) Eight of 13 convicted members of the Greek terrorist
organization "17 November," which was responsible for 23 murders
including five U.S. Embassy employees during a twenty-year period
from the mid-1970s to earlier this decade, filed appeal briefs with
the Arios Paghos Supreme Court on June 19, one day before the
expiration of a deadline on appeals.
2. (SBU) The eight convicts, serving multiple life or lengthy
prison sentences, include: 17N leader Alexandros Yiotopoulos, Savvas
Xyros, Vasilis Xyros, Christodoulos Xyros, Vasilis Tzortzatos,
Patroklos Tselentis, Heracles Kostaris, and Kostas Telios. The
three Xyros brothers, 17N's primary killers, were all convicted on
murder, explosives, and conspiracy charges. Tzortzatos (who
consistently claimed he was tortured into confessing),Tselentis,
Kostaris, and Telios were all convicted on murder and explosives
charges in addition to felonies such as attempted murder and armed
robbery. Chief assassin and 17N quartermaster Dimitris Koufodinas
declined to appeal.
3. (SBU) In their lengthy briefs, the eight 17N convicts appealed a
May 2007 lower appellate court verdict, which had upheld 218 of 219
felony convictions. In this latest appeal, the terror convicts
claimed various grounds for seeking an overturn of their
convictions, including alleged flaws in the evidentiary process,
incompetence of the court, breach of procedure regarding the
publicity of the trial, lack of clear reasoning in reaching a guilty
verdict, and other such reasons. With this appeal, the eight will
exhaust all judicial recourse in Greece. Their next possible step
would be to file papers with the European Court of Human Rights.
SPECKHARD