US Embassy expresses ‘strong objection’ to Athens Law School event

The US Embassy on Wednesday expressed its “strong objection” to the fact that an event was organized at the Athens Law School last Friday in honor of a controversial book by the convicted hit man of the defunct November 17 terrorist organization, Dimitris Koufodinas (photo), during which the latter addressed attendees by telephone.

“The event was not a matter of academic freedom but an effort for a convicted murderer to make money from book sales,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that the function was “offensive to the memory” of N17 victims and survivors and reaffirming its “close and strong working relationship” with Greek authorities on seeking to crack down on terrorism.

The Law School on Tuesday condemned the event too, claiming that organizers held the event without the faculty’s approval, instead getting the go-ahead from Athens University’s faculty of economic and political sciences, which is based in the same building.