Convicted N17 terrorist back in high security jail

Jailed terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas was transferred to Domokos high-security prison, near Lamia in central Greece, on Monday, following a recent tightening of the laws regarding prison leave and the transfer system.

The law, passed earlier in December, bans the transfer of detainees convicted of terrorist offenses to rural prisons and foresees much stricter criteria for furlough.

The hitman of the November 17 terrorist organization, who has been convicted to 11 consecutive life sentences over as many assassinations, was transferred to the Kassavetia Rural Penitentiary in Volos in August 2018 from Korydallos high security prison in Athens.

The same law also links leave rights to the severity of the crime for which prisoners are convicted. Transfers are also prohibited for prisoners who have faced disciplinary action during their incarceration or who have previously violated the terms of furlough.

17N carried out a decades-long assassination campaign starting in 1975, targeting 23 people over a period of almost three decades, including politicians, businessmen, industrialists, publishers, as well as American, Turkish and British diplomats and officials.

Its members were arrested in 2003 and convicted the following year.