N17 DNA results due Monday
The results of DNA testing conducted on most of the November 17 terrorist suspects held in Korydallos prison will be forwarded to the investigating judge handling the case on Monday, sources close to the investigation said yesterday. DNA samples taken from 16 of the 17 suspects – only beekeeper and alleged assassin Dimitris Koufodinas refused to provide a sample – have been compared with forensic material gathered in the two N17 safe houses discovered in Athens during the summer. Reports yesterday said two male samples matched genetic material found in the apartments – which is believed to include material from at least one woman. Yesterday, Heather Saunders, widow of British military attache Stephen Saunders whom N17 assassinated in June 2000 in Athens, testified in connection with her husband’s killing. She also requested to be represented as a civil plaintiff at the trial. Meanwhile, Ioannis Rahiotis, the lawyer representing alleged N17 leader Alexandros Yotopoulos appealed against a five-day ban on his client from seeing any visitors – including Rahiotis – or making phone calls, imposed on Monday to punish Yotopoulos for giving an interview to a provincial Sunday paper, the Lamiakos Typos. Also yesterday, the Athens and Piraeus hospital doctors’ association (EINAP) protested against a government decision to charge N17 suspect Savvas Xeros more than 19,000 euros for extensive treatment at the state Evangelismos hospital, after he was severely wounded on June 29 in Piraeus when a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely. EINAP said state hospitals treat all urgent cases free of charge and argued that Xeros should not be expected to pay.
