FEBRUARY 28, 1952
BELOYIANNIS’S TESTIMONY: Nikos Beloyiannis claimed that the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) is not a traitor to its country but, on the contrary, that it is Greek and patriotically so. He referred to a letter written by Nikos Zachariadis from prison when (in 1940) Greece’s independence was threatened. (…) He also said that the country’s politicians did not believe the accusations of treason. He claimed that a prominent Athenian and cadre of the Greek Rally party had and still has financial dealings and major transactions with representatives of the KKE in Greece. (…) In conclusion, he said, «we Communists love Greece and its people (…) and when necessary we will lay down our lives for them.» BATSIS’S TESTIMONY: «If your court believes that there is room for atonement, do not think that I will not take advantage of it. It is not death that I am afraid of (…). I volunteer my services for the first mission sent by the military to fight in Korea.» ROYAL COMMISSIONER: The military court’s Royal Commissioner Col. K. Athanasoulis proposed the death sentences for Nikos Beloyiannis, Ilias Argyriadis, Vassilis Argyriadis, N. Kaloumenos, D. Batsis, G. Kelaiditis, Elli Ioannidou, Dimitris Kalofolias, P. Lazaridis, K. Triantafyllidis, H. Touliatos and Miltiades Bisbianos.
