Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 03-08-05

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] TSELENTIS: GIOTOPOULOS ELITE, KOUFONTINAS OF THE PEOPLE

[02] 9 DEFENDANTS FOR TEMBI ACCIDENT

[03] INFLATION UNCHANGED IN JULY

[04] CROSS EXAMINATION

[05] "TRAGIC" INDIVIDUALS

[01] TSELENTIS: GIOTOPOULOS ELITE, KOUFONTINAS OF THE PEOPLE

The intense reaction of a portion of the defendants was caused by the claims made by Patroklos Tselentis in his statements today.

Specifically, the alleged leader of the 17 November terrorist organization, Alexandros Giotopoulos, stated that Tselentis had obviously made a deal with the authorities, when he was asked to comment on his fellow defendant's statements. Tselentis is an intelligent man. He realized that for there to be a deal he would have to talk about Giotopoulos.

Dimitris Koufontinas also supported that Tselentis' claims are the product of a deal, however he underlined that some of his statements were false and others were true, while Christodoulos Xeros characterized it as a sad situation.

During the second day of his testimony, Tselentis referred to Alexandros Giotopoulos, who he said acted for ideological reasons alone. He called Giotopolos something like the elite, while he stressed that he accepted dialogue but would not accept the views and conclusions of others.

Regarding Dimitris Koufontinas, he said that he was a man of the people, stubborn, moral but also closed.

At the same time, Tselentis said that there were no women in 17N while he was a member and also supported that he did not know Theologos Psaradelis and Giannis Serifis (two other defendants).

[02] 9 DEFENDANTS FOR TEMBI ACCIDENT

The questioning on the car accident in Tembi last April, that cost the life of 21 students, while injuring another 29 people, was completed. There are 9 defendants in the case, of whom the truck driver that crashed into the bus is being held in the Ioannina prison. There was no need for a further specialist investigation. The case brief was submitted to the DA, who will make the proposal to the Larissa Magistrate's Court Council, which will issue the referral.

[03] INFLATION UNCHANGED IN JULY

Inflation in Greece is estimated to have remained at 3.8% in July, mainly due to the international increase in fuel prices. The sudden rise in the price of crude oil to a barrel, is expected to cancel out the gains from the drops in vegetable prices, hindering the drop of inflation for another month.

[04] CROSS EXAMINATION

A cross examination of Alexandros Giotopoulos and Patroklos Tselentis was requested of the court by prosecuting attorney Al. Lykourezos of the civil suit against the crimes allegedly committed by 17N, a request supported by bench DA Chr. Lambrou. The issue will be looked into after Tselentis completes his statement, according to the court President. "Tselentis is an intelligent man, he realized that for an exchange to take place he had to speak about Giotopoulos", said Giotopoulos, when asked to comment on the claims of his fellow defendant, which Dimitris Koufontinas also characterized as a product of exchange.

[05] "TRAGIC" INDIVIDUALS

P. Tselentis had started having second thoughts about the effectiveness of 17N by 1988, since he believed that neither the organization's actions, nor its declarations had an effect on people, while he also ascertained a fixation on the organization's side to act with no reason, according to his statements in court. P. Tselentis' statement was a catapult for the defendants in the 17N trial, as he gave details on the organization's actions and how he became a member, while he named A. Giotopoulous, D. Koufontinas, and Savvas and Christodoulos Xeros as its leading members. He said that S. Xeros and D. Koufontinas were tragic cases, since they were not able to see that the organization was cutting itself off from society. Tselentis apologized to the victims' families. We believed that we could change society with a violent subversion, he said.

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