An explosive device found in the garden of the one-storey home of prominent journalist Yiannis Pretenteris, in the suburb of Neo Psychiko, northern Athens, on Thursday afternoon.
Yiannis Pretenteris is publisher of newspaper “To Vima” and analyst at Mega TV.
The device consisted of five dynamite sticks and a timer and it was wrapped in a plastic bag, police has said.
According to Pretenteris, who was driving to his work place in south Athens, when the device was found by the gardener who informed the men of his security and the police.
The area was immediately cordoned off by police, while a bomb disposal unit and officers of the counter-terrorism service, which has assumed the case, went to the site.
The bomb disposal unit was able to remove the device without detonating the explosives, and taken to the police laboratory for examination.
It is assumed that the perpetrators threw the device over the wall, possibly during the night, but for unknown reasons it did not go off. Greek police speculates on two scenarios:There was either some mistake in the final connection or the dynamite was old,” tovima.gr reported.
The counter-terrorism department estimated that had the device gone off, then it could have cost human lives.
Police investigates and is collecting CCTV footage from cameras in the area.
There was no warning call to any media neither any threats to the journalist in the previous days. Commenting during the main news program of Mega TV, Pretenteris said “it is creepy that such minds are among us.” He added “it is difficult to feel the violation of your home, because somebody doesn’t agree with what you say or write.”
The whole political world as well as journalists’ associations have condemned the attack.
