November 27, 1952
ARREST OF PLOUMBIDIS: One of the leading cadres of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the leader of the party’s espionage network and former schoolteacher Nikolaos Ploumbidis was arrested yesterday (November 25). Ploumbidis, along with Nikolaos Akritidis, who is still at large, and Nikos Beloyiannis, who has been executed, comprised the three-member committee of the KKE’s clandestine branch in Athens (…). Ploumbidis had married the Communist Ioulia Papachristou with whom he has an 8-year-old child. His wife has been sentenced to life imprisonment for communist activity. REUTERS CRITICIZED: London, 26 (From our correspondent) – The British press is carrying this report from the Athens correspondent of Reuters: «It was announced officially today that Mr Nikolaos Ploumbidis, the alleged leader of the illegal Communist Party’s secret organization and who was said to have been in hiding in Greece for eight years, has been arrested.» Observers of Greek affairs here in London have expressed surprise at the wording of the Reuters report, particularly the use of the phrases «alleged» and «said to have been,» which create the impression that there is some doubt about these events. The use of the title «Mr» in referring to the Communist agent angered many readers familiar with Greek affairs and who are rightly saying that Ploumbidis is thereby presented as an honest politician or as a distinguished figure in Greek public life.
