Counter-terrorism officers have arrested three people and detained another three as main suspects for the three arson attacks targeting homes of ruling New Democracy officials on July 1, where one woman was killed and four people suffered injuries.
The arrests and detention took place in Thessaloniki and Chania on Crete on Friday morning, one day after Vagia Nestora, the mother of one of the targeted officials was laid to rest. The elderly woman was killed during the arson attacks.
According to state broadcaster ERT, arrested were a 26-year-old woman, her 29-year-old partner as well as a 30-year-old man. They were temporarily living in an apartment of a friend just 200 meters away from Nestora’s home.
“Those arrested belong to the tough members of anti-authoritarians in Thessaloniki,” the state broadcaster reported.
The 26-year-old woman is from Athens, lived in Thessaloniki and was arrested in Chania where as it is speculated she fled there in order to “disappear” from the local anarchists’ scene.
The third person was allegedly arrested as an accomplice since after the attack, the two alleged perpetrators found refuge in his home, in.gr reported.
The arrested woman was reportedly remanded in custody in 2022 for participation in a terrorist act. The 29-year-old man is an active member of the anarchist movement and has been arrested by the Police in various incidents, local media thestival.gr reported.
The authorities’ investigations initially focused on a house on Sophocleous Street in Thessaloniki. It is the house where the perpetrators of the deadly arson attack headed after the attack.
According to the Greek Police, three people have so far been arrested, while counter-terrorism investigators are continuing the search at locations and properties in the two areas.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in Parliament on Friday morning: “A day after the funeral of Vagia Nestora, the state is honoring her memory by bringing terrorists to justice. This is democracy’s response to violence. And it is important that we are delivering this response together – at least most of the political forces.”
