Yotopoulos ‘dogged by N17 myth’
A defense lawyer for Alexandros Yotopoulos, the alleged leader of the November 17 terrorist group, told a court yesterday that his client denied ever being a member of the group. «(Yotopoulos) has no connection with the 963 charges against him. Yet he is still dogged by the myth the authorities have created around him over the past 27 years,» said defense counsel Costas Chrysikopoulos. This has been Yotopoulos’s defense since his arrest in July 2002. Calling November 17 members «visionaries of the absolute» who thought they could change society, Chrysikopoulos said testimony from the other 18 people accused along with Yotopoulos indicated that November 17 was based on «collective decision-making» that was «deeply democratic,» where one person’s opinion held no more weight than any other’s. Earlier, Yiannis Vlachos, a lawyer for the Xeros brothers, concluded his defense by claiming that the 1992 attack by November 17 on then Finance Minister Ioannis Palaiokrassas that resulted in the death of a bystander was not intended to kill anyone.
