Velvento banks robbers not terrorists, court rules
Six men who carried out a double armed robbery on a bank and a post office in Velvento, northern Greece, in February 2013, will be sent to prison but will not be treated as terrorists after a court on Wednesday ruled that there is insufficient evidence that they were acting on behalf of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire urban guerrilla group.
Three judges at an Athens court ruled that Yiannis Michailidis, Nikos Romanos, Foivos Harisis Poulos, Andreas Bourzoukos, Anargyros Dalios and Dimitris Politis, are not members of the terrorist group that has been linked to a number of bloodless bomb attacks targeting public figures since 2008 as well as a series of letter bombs sent to embassies and foreign governments in 2010.
The court did rule, however, that their attacks on the two targets were premeditated and that they broke weapons laws. The judges are expected to announces their sentences later in the day.
The six men, all aged under 30, have admitted to being anarchists but have consistently denied any connection to Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire.
