August 1, 1959
EXILES: The undersecretariat for security has announced that «the hardcore communist nucleus of the United Democratic Left [EDA] has undertaken a propaganda campaign in its own newspaper and in others with similar beliefs with the aim of criticizing the conditional leave being given to communists exiled on the island of Aghios Efstratios in the northern Aegean and presenting this move as a ‘terrible inquisition, creating a country full of exiles that is worse than a prison.’ The truth is quite the opposite. The exiles are dedicated and fanatical communist cadres who are a threat to the country’s security and are working for the illegal Communist Party of Greece.» COMMUNISTS’ TRIAL: After 14 days of hearings, a military tribunal in Athens yesterday decided that seven of the 17 people accused of espionage were guilty as charged. They include the secretary of the United Democratic Left (EDA) and editor-in-chief of the Avgi newspaper, Manolis Glezos. Glezos was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment plus four years of exile to the island of Aghios Efstratios and is to be deprived of his civil liberties for eight years.
