Radio Thema98,9 and NET state TV reported a couple of minutes ago that the police has identified the guns , Tokarev type 9mm, as belonging to local terrorist organisation “Sect of Revolutionaries”. The identification was made via examination of the 17 bullets hulls found at the crime scene. According to police, Sokratis Giolias came under the cross fire of at least two assailants. They had ambushed the 37 years old journalist and blogger outside his home after trapping him outside with a malice phone call.. He died of multiple wounds from pistols fired at close range.
The culprits team was consisting of four people wearing police style uniforms neighbors said. The assailants left the crime scene with a car reported stolen two days ago. The car was found burnt down 1,5 km away from Giolias home.
Sokratis Giolias was gunned down Monday morning at 5:20 in Ilioupolis suburb of Athens. He was heading radio Thema 98.9 and was alleged to have been founded member of most popular news blog Troktiko. He was brother of Prince Oliver men’s wear owner. Giolias leaves behind a pregnant woman and a 2 years old child. his funeral will take place tomorrow at 4:30 pm at Ilioupolis cemetery.
The assasination has sparked an outrage among journalists, politicians and ordinary people. First scenarios spoke of a private “death contract” because Giolias was a successful investigative journalist. The identification of the guns as belonging to a terrorism organisation give a new dimension to the motives.
Sect of Revolutionaries considered to belong to the new generation of terrorists organisations in Greece. The group first appeared after police’ fatal shooting of a 15 years old boy in Athens, December 2008. It has vowed to carry out attacks against police and the news media. The group fired gun shots in TV station ALTER parking slot in 2009 without injuring anybody. ALTER TV was the previous employer of Giolias. Many prominent Greek journalists are under police protection, but not the assassinated journalist.
This makes Giolias’ murder the first assassination of a journalist in Greece since the mid- 1980s, when Greek guerrilla group November 17 assassinated two conservative newspaper publishers: George Athanasiadis (Vradyni daily) in 1983 and Nikos Morferatos (Apogevmatini daily) in 1985.
See more details on the assassination and public reactions in my previous reports. Unfortunately I have a technical problem in creating live links.
