Terror suspects to appear before investigating magistrate Friday

Two suspects of Pakistani origin are set to appear before an investigating magistrate on Friday on charges of planning an attack on a Jewish center in the busy downtown area of Psyri. The suspects allegedly received orders from a fellow Pakistani who is currently evading arrest in Iran.

According to their lawyer Iraklis Stavaris, the indictment and the case rely solely on communication history between the three accused, primarily via messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Viber. Greece’s anti-terrorism police division is conducting a thorough investigation into their social media accounts, including Facebook and even TikTok.

The investigation began after the anti-terrorism unit received an email mentioning that two of the three suspects, whose contact details were provided in the message, were planning to attack the Chabab House on Aesopou Street. The first significant communication of interest, according to the Greek Police (ELAS), was identified in November 2022 when the Pakistani national who is currently in Iran requested that his compatriot living and working on the Ionian island of Zakynthos send him photos of the Jewish synagogue in Athens.

While the initial communication did not reveal the exact nature of the plan, the suspect did urge the individual to visit and photograph the exterior of the synagogue. “I have a job for you,” he allegedly said in one of the early messages.

The Pakistani national who worked as a farmworker in Zakynthos and lived with fellow nationals in a house in the area of Laganas managed to travel to Athens during the Christmas period. He actually took pictures of the Jewish restaurant, which he sent to his interlocutor in Iran, and returned to Zakynthos. The latter allegedly revealed his true plans in January, a period during which the Pakistani national who was arrested returned from Laganas to Athens.

According to Stavaris, the lawyer, in some of the recorded conversations, the suspect expresses objections to the attack plan, arguing that the area is densely populated and therefore it would be difficult to escape after the attack. The fugitive Pakistani national who is in Iran is said to be asking his interlocutor to send him photos and videos of the attack as evidence.

Stavaris notes that the case file includes a message in which the Pakistani detainee appears to be telling the alleged mastermind of the planned attack that instead of sending him images of the victims, he will slaughter a goat and send him pictures with the animal’s blood.