Supreme Court to rule Tuesday on Koufodinas leave
The Supreme Court will on Tuesday discuss the furlough request of convicted terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas after Greece’s top prosecutor Xeni Dimtiriou ordered a review late Friday of the decision not to grant him leave.
Dimitriou challenged the decision after Koufodinas – serving multiple life sentences for 11 murders he committed as a leading member of the now defunct November 17 terror group – was placed in intensive care as his health deteriorated due to a 15-day hunger strike over the rejection of his furlough request.
The rejection of 61-year-old Koufodinas’ request also sparked a barrage of “solidarity” attacks by self-styled anarchists against targets in Athens.
The N17 hitman had been granted six furloughs in the past but his latest request was rejected last week by a judicial council because judges deemed he remains a threat to society.
Justice Minister Michalis Kalogirou voiced his support for Dimitriou’s decision, saying it is within her purview as a Supreme Court prosecutor to do so, and denounced her critics.
In a statement on Saturday, the opposition New Democracy party reacted strongly to the decision by the Supreme Court prosecutor, insisting that “no serious democracy is blackmailed by terrorists or their admirers,” while reiterating its promise to restore the high-security prison regime for terrorists that the SYRIZA government abolished.
For his part, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed while on the campaign trail on the island of Crete that the “rule of law and democracy cannot be threatened or blackmailed by anyone, let alone a serial killer and 30 thugs that back him.”
He added that he has “complete confidence” that Greece’s justice system will live up to expectations.
