Athens court acquits defendant of Marfin firebombing attack

An Athens court on Monday acquitted 34-year-old defendant Theodoros Sipsas of all charges related to the firebombing of a branch of Marfin Bank in central Athens during an anti-austerity riot in 2010 that led to the death of three bank workers.

The court also issued a not-guilty verdict for Pavlos Andreyev, also 34, in connection with a separate Molotov cocktail attack against the Ianos bookstore in the same area during the same protest.

After several weeks of witness testimony, the court unanimously ruled that the suspects had not been conclusively identified as being the perpetrators behind the two attacks.

The firebombing of the Marfin branch resulted in the death by asphyxiation of 32-year-old Angeliki Papathanasopoulou, who was pregnant at the time of her death, Paraskevi Zoulia, 35, and Epameinondas Tsakalis, 36.