Man behind murder of British diplomat is convicted

The man behind the murder of British attaché, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, in Athens three years ago has been convicted by a Greek court today.

At the conclusion of what was Greece's largest ever trial - which began in March this year - an Athens court convicted 15 members of the notorious November 17 Greek terrorist group of a variety of terrorist-related crimes.

Among the 19 accused was the man believed to be behind the killing of Brigadier Stephen Saunders.

The group's leader Alexandros Giotopoluos, 59, was convicted of conspiracy to murder in respect of the killing of Brigadier Saunders and found guilty of 18 other charges related to murders.

The 52-year-old British defence attaché to Greece was shot four times in the chest at close range while his car was stopped in traffic on June 8 2000. He was on his way to a meeting with British and Greek ministers about arms sales.

The killing was one of some 23 other killings perpetrated by the Marxist November 17 group that was named after the date of the failed student uprising in 1973.

In a statement, the group claimed that the killing had been carried out as a "punishment" for the Nato bombing of Yugoslavia. The Greek government had offered a £3 million reward for information on the murder.

Under Greek law the authorities in Athens filed open charges on the then unidentified individuals responsible for the assassination of Brigadier Saunders. These enabled a prosecutor and magistrate to proceed with a detailed investigation of the case.

However, despite assistance from British anti-terrorist police and sustained pressure by the Brigadier's widow, the first real breakthrough was the detention of Savas Xiros who was arrested after a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely injuring Xiros.

This led to the arrest of 19 suspects and the discovery of a .45 calibre handgun thought to have been used in the murder of Brigadier Saunders. Savas Xiros and Dimitris Koufodinas where subsequently charged with the murder and two other members of the group were charged as accomplice to the murder. Described as the group's main hitman, Koufodinas was convicted of nine murders, including that of Brigadier Saunders, and charges relating to eight other murders.

Four of the accused were found not guilty in the marathon no-jury trial. Greece does not have the death penalty and those convicted of murder may be expected to serve at least 20 years.

The hundreds of charges alone took six hours to be read to the defendants in the specially constructed high-security court building in Athens.

(SP)