Three new arrests in Nov17 case

Number of those held rises to 10, investigating magistrate orders first three jailed pending trial

Iraklis Kostaris (r) was brought before a prosecutor yesterday to be charged with a number of crimes, including involvement in four murders and two attempted murders. Like another suspect, Thomas Serifis, who was arrested yesterday, he is a relative of Yiannis Serifis, who was accused of being a member of the Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) group in the 1970s but was acquitted. Kostaris denies the charges.

The police advance against members of the November 17 terrorist organization continued through the weekend, with two more people being arrested on Saturday and another yesterday. With this, the number of suspected November 17 members rose to 10, with the group's alleged founder and mastermind, 58-year-old Alexandros Yotopoulos among them. The charges they face include multiple counts of murder, as the group claimed 23 killings during the past 27 years, declaring them part of a left-wing revolution.

On the judicial front, Christodoulos Xeros, 44, and his brother Vassilis, 30, as well as a friend, Dionysis Georgiadis, 26, testified before an investigating magistrate yesterday, becoming the first members of the group to do so. They were jailed pending trial and are expected to be moved to Korydallos Prison in the next few days. The Xeros brothers have confessed to their involvement in a number of serious crimes, with Christodoulos admitting to playing at least a part in the murder of 9 people, while Vassilis was involved in the group's last two murders - those of shipowner Costis Peratikos in Piraeus in 1997 and British defense attache Brig. Stephen Saunders on Kifissias Avenue in 2000. Georgiadis, who was the only one who chose the services of a lawyer, is accused of involvement in an explosion at a bank in 1998, in a robbery in 1998 and in renting an apartment that November 17 used as a hideout. Another Xeros brother, Savvas, is in the Evangelismos Hospital, recovering from wounds he received on June 29 when a bomb he was allegedly carrying exploded in his hands in Piraeus. His testimony to a public prosecutor has helped police make great progress in the case, including the arrest of Yotopoulos on a remote Aegean island last week. Yotopoulos has refused to tell his interrogators anything but was reported on Saturday to have hired the services of a lawyer, Yiannis Rahiotis. Yotopoulos, as well as Vassilis Tzortzatos (who has confessed to nine murders and a host of other crimes) and Theologos Psaradellis (who has confessed to a robbery) will testify before an investigating magistrate tomorrow or Wednesday.

On Saturday, anti-terror squad police swooped on two villages in northwestern Greece and arrested Iraklis Kostaris, 36, and his friend Constantinos Karatsolis, also 36. Karatsolis admitted to involvement in four robberies and thefts. Kostaris denied the accusations of his involvement in crimes, including four murders (those of MP Pavlos Bakoyiannis, US air force Sgt. Ronald Stewart, Peratikos and Saunders).

Yesterday police detained Thomas (Makis) Serifis, 36. Like Kostaris, he is a relative of Yiannis Serifis, who had been acquitted of charges of terrorist activity in the 1970s.