Member of ELA set to walk free
A convicted member of the extreme left-wing terrorist group Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) had her sentence suspended yesterday after an Athens appeals court ruled that she did not pose any danger and because of family health problems. Irene Athanasaki, 50, had been sentenced to 25 years in prison last October along with three other ELA members for a string of attacks on mainly police and US-linked targets since the mid-1970s. However, a court ruled in July that she and the three men had not been involved in 10 bombings between 1985 and 1995, one of which killed a policeman. The group ceased its campaign in 1995. Athanasaki’s lawyers used the most recent ruling as evidence that their client was not a danger to the public or a flight risk. Athanasaki also told the court that her 82-year-old father was seriously ill and that her mother was too old to take care of him. All four ELA members are appealing against their original convictions. Their hearing is expected to start early next year. Athanaski is due to be released within the next few days, after posting a 3,000-euro bail.
