New ELA trial begins Monday
Four members of the Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) terrorist group and a further two suspects will face a new trial on Monday in connection with a ten-year bombing campaign, court sources confirmed yesterday. Angeletos Kanas, Costas Agapiou, Irini Athanassaki and Christos Tsigaridas, the latter released last month on grounds of ill health, were jailed for 25 years each in October for a string of ELA attacks. But they did not face charges on the bombings the group was allegedly responsible for between 1985 and 1995, when it disbanded. Police officer Apostolos Vellios was killed in one of the attacks in 1994. These charges were separated from the main body of the case pending further investigations. Michalis Kassimis, who was acquitted of involvement in ELA in the first trial, and Yiannis Serifis, who was cleared of November 17 membership in 2003, will also stand trial on Monday.
