Terror suspects remanded in custody
Two of six terrorist suspects arrested on the weekend were remanded in custody yesterday after seeking additional time to prepare their defense against a growing stack of charges being lodged against them. Alexandros Mitrousias and Costas Sakkas were stopped by police on Saturday night outside a suspected hideout in Nea Smyrni, southern Athens, carrying rucksacks full of weapons. Their capture led to the subsequent arrests of another four suspects who are to face an investigating magistrate tomorrow on a string of charges ranging from membership of a terrorist organization to explosives possession. The lawyer representing Mitrousias and Sakkas said that his clients had lodged an official complaint, noting that they were unable to prepare their defense against an ever-accumulating mass of charges being brought against them. In a written statement, the two detainees said that «the problem cannot be solved with an extension of just a few days as new evidence is being added every day.» They asked for their depositions to be postponed until the case file has been completed. In a related development, a second round of ballistics tests on weapons recovered from a suspected hideout in the western city of Agrinio did not provide a match to arms used in any previous terrorist attacks in Greece. Ballistics tests on weapons found in the Nea Smyrni apartment also produced no matches. Counterterrorism officers were yesterday examining evidence taken from another suspected hideout in the coastal suburb of Glyfada following a raid late on Monday night.
