GREECE: Mr Alexandros Giotopoulos, the son of Greece's most famous Trotskyite, denied yesterday that he was the founder of the deadly November 17 terrorist group and said he was on trial because of an Anglo-American plot.
On the second day of the trial of 19 November 17 suspects, other key defendants joined Mr Giotopoulos, a mathematician, in blaming a political conspiracy for the fact they were facing 1,000 charges ranging from murder to terrorism to bank robbery.
There were fewer guilty pleas than had been expected, with 12 accused denying any involvement with the band.
Mr Giotopoulos (59), son of famed Greek Trotskyite Dimitris Giotopoulos, who fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, is linked to all charges.
"I deny the charges. The accusations against me are an Anglo-American fabrication. I am here because the Americans want it so because of my past. I come from a well-known left-wing family," Mr Giotopoulos told the court when asked to plead.
In his plea, the group's alleged top hit man, Mr Dimitris Koufodinas, said he stood by November 17's "political responsibility" but denied all charges against him.
"This is a trial of extreme measures and special punishment. I deny the charges," said Mr Koufodinas, known by the group as Poison Hand because of his accuracy with a gun.
The first November 17 suspect arrested, Mr Savas Xiros, attacked the court as illegal and said confessions presented by the prosecution were obtained by psychological and physical torture. "My confessions were taken under psychological pressure, threat of extradition to the US and medication," Mr Xiros, (40), the youngest suspect on trial, said.
The radical left-wing group is blamed for 23 murders of Greeks and foreigners, including US, British and Turkish diplomats, over nearly three decades. The group's first victim was Athens CIA station chief Richard Welch in 1975. The last was British defence attaché Stephen Saunders, gunned down in June 2000.
Mr Xiros said that after he was arrested, following a failed bomb blast last summer which triggered the successful police crackdown on the group, he was tied to a bed and fed hallucinatory drugs to get him to confess.