The US State Department and the UK Ambassador to Athens expressed their strong opposition to the second furlough granted to 17. November convicted terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas.
“It is extremely disheartening to see an unrepentant convicted terrorist coming out of the prison again,” UK’s ambassador Kate Smith said on Twitter on Friday. She posted her Tweet in Greek and added “We respect the Greek Justice, however, for one more time, memory of the terrorism victims and the feelings of their relatives are being violently insulted.”
Είναι εξαιρετικά αποκαρδιωτικό να βλέπει κανείς έναν αμετανόητο κατάδικο τρομοκράτη να ξαναβγαίνει έτσι από τη φυλακή. Σεβόμαστε την ανεξάρτητη Ελ/κή Δικαιοσύνη όμως για μια ακόμη φορά, η μνήμη των θυμάτων τρομοκρατίας & τα συναισθήματα των οικογενειών τους προσβάλλονται βάναυσα.
— Kate Smith (@KateSmithFCO) February 9, 2018
The US State Department condemned the furlough.
Department of State condemns “release of Koufodinas, a convicted terrorist” @statedeptspox adds “we fundamentally believe that convicted terrorists do not deserve a vacation from prison”
— Lena Argiri (@lenaargiri) February 9, 2018
Criticism was expressed also by the relatives of the victims, among them the son of murdered politician and journalist Pavlos Bakoyiannis.
Dimitris Koufodinas exited the door of Korydallos prison in Athens at 9 a.m. on Friday. He has to return after two days and report to local police station twice per day.
His lawyer responded to criticism saying that “the law does not provide that the “victims’ relatives have a saying in a convict’s staying in prison, neither can they demand higher prison sentences. “He has only one life,” his lawyer said about the man who has been convicted 11 times in life imprisonment.