NEWS

French officials in Athens probing anarchist’s role in 2017 IMF parcel bomb

French officials in Athens probing anarchist’s role in 2017 IMF parcel bomb

More than a year after a letter bomb sent from Greece exploded at International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Paris, injuring the employee who opened it, French counterterrorism and judicial officials were in Athens recently to discuss the progress of investigations with their Greek counterparts, Kathimerini has learned.

Officials are examining the possible connection between the Paris explosion of March 16, 2017, which was later claimed by urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, and Greek anarchists held at Athens’s high-security Korydallos Prison. At the center of the investigation is 30-year-old Constantinos Giagtzoglou, accused of sending the letter bomb that seriously injured former prime minister Lucas Papademos, and others addressed to 10 European officials in the period between March and May 2017. Giagtzoglou, who was arrested last October, has been identified as the sender of a parcel bomb addressed to Germany’s ex-finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble in March last year, via DNA collected from the defused explosive device. French officials have so far been unable to collect DNA from the IMF bomb.

Speaking to Kathimerini on condition of anonymity, an official said investigators have established considerable similarities between the devices found in Paris, Berlin and Athens. The official also said that at the time of his arrest, Giagtzoglou was carrying explosive material similar to that used in the terrorist acts.

Meanwhile, officials are exploring possible links between the suspect and Paula Roupa, a convicted member of domestic terror group Revolutionary Struggle. Police say Roupa’s handwriting matches that on a fake state ID card used by Giagtzoglou. A search of his hideout also uncovered keys similar to those Roupa kept in a brown envelope marked “Aghios Panteleimonas,” the downtown Athens district where Giagtzoglou’s hideout was located.

Police also say that Giagtzoglou was to take part in a helicopter jailbreak planned at Korydallos Prison by self-professed Revolutionary Struggle leader Nikos Maziotis and another four Conspiracy members in 2015.

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