Two convicted members of “17 November” distanced themselves from fugitive Christodoulos Xiros who threatened to take up again the armed struggle. Speaking to media from the prison cells of Korydallos in Athens, Xiros’s younger brother Savvas and Dimitris Koufontinas let the fugitive Xiros know that the “17 November” was over.
“This fairy tale is over; that group, which had a very specific mentality, is no more,” Savvas Xiros told Alpha FM from the maximum security prison of Korydallos where he is serving five consecutive life sentences plus an additional 25 years for taking part in five assassinations and robberies, among other criminal activities. He ruled out the prospect of disbanded November 17 terrorist group being resurrected.
Further, Savvas Xiros distanced himself from the new generation of terrorists in Greece, with which “Chirstodoulos Xiros has alleged connections”, according to police.
“Back then, it was more than a group of popular avengers trying to restore justice. It was armed propaganda,” Savvas said.
Dimitris Koufontinas, also imprisoned in Korydallos, sent a letter to daily Efimerida twn Syntaktwn saying the “17 November was over in 2002.”
“As I have said before, N17’s circle of life has closed. I said it in 2002, when I was defending the honor of the organization and the revolutionary values that were belittled by the confessions and hurt by the great silence. That is when N17 came to an end,” Koufontinas wrote in his letter saying also that “nobody has the right use the name and history of the roganization, how much more to claim that he would continue in its name.”
