New terror indictment for Serifis?
Veteran trade unionist Yiannis Serifis, who was acquitted of participation in the November 17 terrorist group in December, could be tried for Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) membership following a senior prosecutor’s proposal yesterday. Appeals Court prosecutor Antonis Mytis recommended the indictment of Serifis, 66, on charges of murder, terrorist group membership, causing an explosion and possession of explosives – all in connection with the 1994 ELA killing of senior police officer Apostolos Velios, during a bomb attack on a riot police bus in Perissos, northern Athens. Mytis also recommended that all charges against ELA suspect Epaminondas Skyftoulis – who was allegedly involved in the attempted murder of journalist Kyriakos Diakoyiannis in 1989 – should be dropped. The Council of Appeals Court Judges will rule on Mytis’s recommendations. While deciding to indict five suspected ELA members, whose trial started on February 9, the council had ordered a further investigation into the Velios and Diakoyiannis cases.
