FIFTEEN members of the 17 November terrorist group were convicted yesterday of complicity in 2,000 crimes, among them the murder of Brigadier Stephen Saunders, the British defence attaché in Athens, three years ago.

Many Greeks believe that the long-delayed day of reckoning will bring to an end 27 years of terrorist attacks, although the Government is urging continued vigilance before the Olympic Games next year.

The group’s most recent victim was Brigadier Saunders, who was shot dead while driving to his office in June 2000.

In a bunker-like courtroom set up in the Korydallos prison in Athens, guarded by battalions of armed riot police and layers of electronic security, the three judges issued multiple convictions against Alexandros Giotopoulos, 58, as the mastermind of the group that outwitted authorities for more than a generation. Giotopoulos, a French-born academic and beekeeper, was indicted on 963 counts.

Among the others convicted was Dimitris Koufodinas, the group’s main assassin, who is linked to most of its 23 killings.

Four defendants were acquitted, including Angeliki Sotiropoulou, the lone woman.

Heather Saunders, the widow of the assassinated attaché, will return to Greece today to witness the sentencing. She said that she believed the trip would be her last to the country and that it was time to put the past behind her.

Mrs Saunders, of Dorchester, said: “Nobody really wins in this situation, but if they are taken off the streets for a while and given a dose of their own medicine, albeit no comparison to what we suffered, then that, perhaps, is justice.

“I have got two children, although grown up, who are very dependent on me. And I think there comes a time when enough is enough. You have got to turn the corner and get on with your life.”

The former nurse was appointed OBE a year ago for her public campaign in Greece to bring her husband’s killers to justice. Yesterday she said that hard police work and simple luck, in particular the capture of a terrorist suspect who blew himself up last year, were largely responsible for breaking up the group.

Giotopoulos had steadfastly denied any links to 17 November, but said yesterday: “It was a decision that I was expecting.” Others freely admitted their roles. Koufodinas told the court that he took “political responsibility” for all the group’s actions, which began with the ambush killing of a CIA station chief in 1975.

Dora Bakoyianni, the Mayor of Athens, said outside the court yesterday: “Greek justice spoke today and its decisions are respected by all. The road ahead is still long and, for us, this is a first stage. Our loved ones, of course, can’t come back.”

Mrs Bakoyianni’s husband, Pavlos, a spokesman for the conservative New Democracy party, was killed by the group in 1989.

Michalis Margaritis, the presiding judge, read out the list of convictions and acquittals, the brevity of the session stunning reporters and lawyers, who had been led to expect a complex, days- long recitation of individual charges as they applied to each defendant. It was a signal that the judge was determined to bring proceedings to a quick close after a record 163 court sessions.

Court sources said that heavy sentences, including multiple life terms, could be expected for at least half a dozen of the defendants.

Koufodinas, 43, is believed to have fired the fatal shots at Brigadier Saunders from a motorcycle ridden by Savvas Xiros, one of three brothers among the accused. Xiros’s botched attempt to bomb a shipping office prompted his arrest in June 2002, after which the remaining members were rounded up one by one.

Relatives of some of the group’s victims were unhappy at the four acquittals. Molly Ball, the daughter of the group’s first victim, Richard Welch, the Athens CIA station chief, said: “Some have got away with murder.”

17 NOVEMBER

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