GREEK SECURITY INCIDENTS AT 20-YEAR HIGH -- POLICE YET TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000119 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO AMCONSUL ALMATY AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/18 TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC ABLD GR SUBJECT: GREEK SECURITY INCIDENTS AT 20-YEAR HIGH -- POLICE YET TO ROLL UP TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS REF: ATHENS 27; 09 ATHENS 1679; 09 ATHENS 1519; 09 ATHENS 2130 09 ATHENS 1972; ATHENS 30 CLASSIFIED BY: Deborah McCarthy, Charge; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (SBU) Greece has seen a steep increase over the past ten years in security incidents related to domestic terrorists, extremists, and anarchists. This increase has been especially dramatic in recent years. The Embassy recorded over 430 security incidents in 2009, defined to include incendiary and explosive attacks, as well as attacks involving small arms, grenades, and other infantry-style weaponry. This was far more than recorded in any of the previous twenty years, and nearly triple the total in 2000. It surpassed the previous record of 310, set the year before in 2008. ¶2. (SBU) The increase in the number of attacks has been accompanied by the use of more powerful bombs and bolder tactics in major attacks. In recent months we have seen the explosion of a powerful bomb outside the headquarters of the National Insurance Corporation in central Athens December 27, 2009, and the January 9, 2010, blast outside Parliament which, although smaller in size, attracted major Greek and international attention because of its prominent location (ref A). The Conspiracy of Cells of Fire and the Guerilla Group of Terrorists - two groups previously known for smaller and less visible attacks - issued joint statements claiming responsibility for both attacks. On February 16, a small explosive device detonated outside the office building housing the Athens office of J.P. Morgan bankers in the Kolonaki neighborhood of Athens. No group has yet claimed responsibility. ¶3. (SBU) Minister of Citizens Protection Michalis Chrysochoides, who came into office with the new Papandreou government in October 2009, appears to have had some success in preventing the major violence that many expected on key anniversaries November 17 and December 6. He has also instituted a large police show of force in anarchist strongholds in central Athens. But the police cannot be everywhere at once, and the rise of security incidents has been a major topic in the Greek press. The police have not been successful in rolling up any of the major terrorist organizations. Police arrested four alleged members of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire in a September 23, 2009, raid on a house in the Halandri section of Athens, and continue to hold three of them in custody: Charilaos Hatzimihelakis, Emmanuel Yospas, and Panayotis Masouras (ref C). The fourth suspect arrested, Myrto Panteloglou, was given supervised release, as was another woman arrested in the case on November 14, Antigone Heliotis-Hadjidimitrou, who was suspected of being friends with one of those in jail. Police arrested another suspect, 26-year-old university student NIkolaos Bakovassilis, on January 2, 2010; he was granted supervised release several days later. On February 1, 2010, police arrested a 21-year-old not named in the media, who police say was a friend of Masouras and whose fingerprints were found in the Halandri safehouse. In addition, prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for the following individuals in connection with the investigation: Georgios Nikolopoulos, Michalis Nikolopoulos (brother of Georgios),Damiano Bolano, Georgios Karayannides, Konstantina Karatkatsanis, and Eleni Kontopoulou. (See refs D-F for post's Visas Viper information on suspected members of Conspiracy of Cells of Fire.) The arrests thus far do not appear to have prevented the group - or perhaps other individuals using the group's name - from increasing its attacks. ¶4. (C) Comment: Combined with the acute economic crisis, which has produced public demonstrations in response to the GoG's planned austerity measures, and a rising crime rate, the increasing activity of domestic terrorist groups has contributed to a public sense of insecurity. Chrysochoides has publicly thrown down the gauntlet to violent extremist groups - as well as to the organized crime organizations to which he believes many are connected - but he has not yet been able to bring charges against major figures or to prevent further attacks. Much of the problem can be traced to capacity gaps in law enforcement and to a defendant-friendly judicial system. With the dismissal of the cases against the People's Revolutionary Struggle (ELA) defendants in December (ref B),the only members of the older generation of Greek domestic terrorists still behind bars are a portion of the November 17 convicts arrested in 2002. The new generation of terrorists is becoming more proficient at larger and more frequent attacks. In the face of continued weak government action, security incidents will continue to rise. MCCARTHY