The verdicts and sentences were announced today in the first Fire Cells Conspiracy trial (the so-called “Halandri case”), and the end results are not good. The three-member tribunal imposed even longer sentences than those requested by the prosecutor. The breakdown is as follows:
Haris Hatzimichelakis: Guilty of forming a terrorist organization, manufacturing explosives, possessing explosives, and causing explosions at the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 25 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 77 years.
Panayiotis Argyrou: Guilty of forming a terrorist organization, manufacturing explosives, possessing explosives, and causing explosions at the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 25 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 77 years.
Giorgos Karagiannidis: Guilty of manufacturing explosives, possessing explosives, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 20 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 32 years.
Panayiotis Masouras: Guilty of manufacturing explosives, possessing explosives, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison out of a total combined sentence of 19 years. Submitted an application for a suspended sentence.
Alexandros Mitrousias: Guilty of manufacturing explosives, possessing explosives, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 11 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 19 years. Chose not to submit an application for a suspended sentence.
Konstantina Karakatsani: Guilty of manufacturing explosives, possessing explosives, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 11 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 19 years. Submitted an application for a suspended sentence.
Manolis Yiospas: Guilty of three misdemeanors including robbery and fraud. Sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison. The prosecutor initially requested that Yiospas be acquitted, and after the prison sentence was announced the prosecutor then proposed a three-year suspended sentence, which the court accepted.
Nikos Vogiatzakis: Acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.
Errikos Rallis: Acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.
Friends and relatives of the accused, but also the defence, commented on the severity in the imposition of sentences considering that for the majority of those sentenced, the court judged that their participation in the organization was of only a few months.
The state, its court and its other dogs have shown once more what happens to decent people who live for freedom.