Blast probe focuses on abduction convicts
Police investigating a bomb blast that caused serious damage on Thursday to the home of appeals court judge Paraskevi Kalaitzi in Halandri, northeastern Athens, are believed to be focusing on convicted members of a crime ring who abducted shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos in 2009.
Police sources said it was likely that the perpetrators behind Thursday’s blast may have wanted to intimidate the judge who is to hear the appeals by the convicted members of the ring against their prison terms.
In March, 18 people were handed down jail terms, with two convicts receiving double life terms, for the high-profile kidnapping.
Kalaitzi is said to have received threatening telephone calls in recent weeks and had been accompanied by a police escort on her outings.
She was not hurt in the attack on her home which caused serious damage and blew out the windows of adjacent buildings.
