Two charged after ex-minister’s home targeted in thwarted bomb attack

Two men who were arrested early Wednesday while trying to plant two incendiary devices outside an apartment building in the Thessaloniki suburb of Kalamaria, where a former conservative minister lives, faced a prosecutor on Thursday and were given until Monday to prepare their defense on a string of criminal charges.

The men, aged 27 and 28, face charges of forming a criminal gang, attempting to cause an explosion, attempted arson, manufacturing and possessing explosives that could have endangered human life, violation of gun and flare ownership laws, violation of drug laws, resistance and disobedience.

According to police sources, the head of the Deposits and Loans Fund, former minister Dimitris Stamatis, resides in the building though it remains unclear if he was the target of the intended explosion.

The same sources said that they caught the 27-year-old while he was attempting to activate the incendiary device, while the second was on a nearby street corner, keeping a lookout.

Officers then tracked down and arrested the 28-year-old in the center of Thessaloniki.

Raids on the suspects’ homes produced four incendiary devices, a tear gas canister, bottles containing a flammable liquid, pepper spray and small quantities of cannabis.