Ex-Socialist minister’s cars destroyed in bomb attack
Former Socialist heavyweight Yannos Papantoniou on Friday spoke out against the “climate of intolerance and intimidation” after unknown arsonists torched two family cars outside his residence in the northern Athens suburb of Kifissia.
No one was injured in the attack, which also caused minor damage to a wall around the house, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Both vehicles were completely destroyed when devices comprising seven gas canisters exploded, police said.
Papantoniou, who served as finance minister from 1994 to 2001 and defense minister between 2001 and 2004, suggested the blast was connected to recent allegations that his wife’s name is in the so-called Lagarde list of Greeks with large deposits in a Swiss bank.
“Today’s attack is the outgrowth of the climate of intolerance and intimidation that has systematically been cultivated by certain circles in the domains of politics and the media,” he said.
