In a big counter-terror operation against the organization “Revolutionary Self-Defense” police raided several houses in Athens, arrested two men and one woman and discovered an arsenal of weapons, Greek Police announced on Saturday.
In the operation that started on Friday, 13 homes have been reportedly raided and 15 people questioned by the counter-terrorism Department of Greek Police.
Two men aged 41 and 45 were arrested on charges of terrorist acts, possession of explosives, violation of weapons law and tampering with official documents.A 39-year0old woman has been also arrested for violation of arms law. Police is seeking for a 46-year-old man.
Video: Two arrested men taken to public prosecutor on Saturday evening. the prosecutor pressed three felonies and five misdemeanor charges.
According to a statement by Police, the arrestees appear to be involved in the break-in of a store that sold entertainment and technology games in Holargos suburb of Athens on October 21.
The 41-year-old man was arrested in 2010 for membership in the terrorist group “Revolutionary Struggle” (Epanastatikos Agonas). He served a jail sentence and was released in February 2018 on remand for the rest of his sentence.
In the raided homes police found and confiscated among other:
- 5 Kalashnikov rifles
- 4 hand grenades with CS gas fillers
- 17 detonators (9 of them remote-controlled)
- various explosives including gelatin-dynamite, also possible TNT.
A ballistics examination of the weapons showed that one Kalashnikov had been used in an attack for which the “Revolutionary Self-Defense” had assumed responsibility.
According to Police, the organization has assumed responsibility for
- two attacks with assault rifles against riot police outside PASOK headquarters in Athens in 2014 and 2017,
- attacks on the embassy of Mexico and of France in August and November of 2016, respectively. One policeman was injured in the second attack.
The same weapon was also used to rob an OPAP gaming store in Holargos on October 21, 2019.
The counter-terrorism operation against the organization practically started after the attack in October, reportedly committed by one of the arrested men and the one on the run.
During the robbery, the 41-year-old accidentally shot and injured his 46-year-old accomplice.
Police sent blood samples for DNA analysis, further forensic test led to the traces of the terror organization.
The weapons found in the apartment in Holargos were reportedly transferred there from an apartment in Kypseli district of Athens.
sources: Greek Police, newsit, amna, ethnos
