Alexandros Giotopoulos, the convicted leader of a far-left Greek militant group, was returned to prison on June 16 after Greece’s Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that had granted him conditional release.
The 82-year-old Giotopoulos was released from Athens’ Korydallos Prison on May 21 after serving roughly 24 years behind bars.
However, Greece’s highest court ruled that prisoners serving multiple life sentences must complete at least 25 years in custody before becoming eligible for conditional release.
Following the ruling, Giotopoulos was taken to the Piraeus Appeals Prosecutor’s Office to complete the necessary legal procedures before being transferred back to Korydallos Prison, where he was placed in a special detention unit.
Giotopoulos was arrested in 2002 on the Greek island of Lipsi and was convicted the following year of leading November 17, a militant group responsible for a decades-long campaign of assassinations and
bomb attacks against Greek and foreign officials, diplomats and military personnel. In 2007, he received a final sentence totaling 17 life terms plus an additional 25 years in prison.
His release last month drew strong criticism from both Türkiye and the United States.
Türkiye condemned the decision, saying it showed disregard for the memory of Turkish diplomats killed in attacks attributed to the group.
The ministry noted that he was sentenced to multiple life terms for organizing attacks that included the 1991 killing of Çetin Görgü, press attache at the Turkish Embassy in Athens, the attempted assassination of embassy counselor Deniz Bölükbaşı later that year and the 1994 killing of counselor Haluk Sipahioğlu.
The U.S. also voiced concern over the release, criticizing the lower court’s decision and calling on Greek authorities to ensure that Giotopoulos was returned to prison
