Photo: ethnos.gr
The police services investigating the disappearance of terrorist Christodoulos Xiros already have evidence that he was preparing his escape from the summer of 2013 with the possible collaboration of members of "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei".
The police claim they know the names of his relatives who had helped him to disappear from the region of Nea Kalikratia near Thessaloniki, as well as his plan of action in recent months.
According to the investigators, Christodoulos Xiros had planned to cover his tracks in Kalikratia first and then subsequently to be hidden by members of "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei" in the region around Athens. They say that in recent months Xiros had held frequent meetings with members of the group and with other persons arrested for armed actions in wing 1 of Korydallos prison, their purpose being to organise his escape and to create a "safe system" for his possible adoption in Athens. Therefore, the investigators believe that the New Year "party" which involved Xiros and members of "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei" and their menacing text on the internet are not at all coincidental as they are mutually connected. They define them as an announcement of the cooperation between the terrorists.
According to the same sources, the former member of "17 November" will play a central role in the new action phase of "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei" and other armed groups by helping in the organisation of bombings and other large-scale attacks. The police believe that the "experienced" Christodoulos Xiros will become the "operational leader" of the particular branch of the "urban guerrillas" as it has had none so far.
The authorities are concerned that this, combined with the recent actions of the other terrorist, namely runaway Nikos Maziotis, could be the beginning of a series of large-scale armed attacks, similar to those carried out by the groups "17 November", "Revolutionary Struggle" and "1 May" in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, according to a report in To Vima newspaper, the anti-terrorist service has been able to find Xiros’ relatives who had helped him to carry out his plan of escape. The specific sources say they have found 2-3 of his relatives who had transported him from Nea Kalikratia to Thessaloniki and probably to southern Greece and Athens and do not exclude the possibility of him stopping at other places while travelling.
The investigators found on Wednesday the already released brother of Christodoulos, Vasilis Xiros, and expect him to appear at the police station and testify.
Meanwhile, the fast-track court has freed from guilt Kostas Sakas, who is convicted of involvement in "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei". He was arrested on Tuesday for violating the restrictive measures imposed on him. Sakas had been released from prison in July 2013 after spending 31 months in custody, the statutory period for the specific measure being 18 months. In protest, he went on a hunger strike that lasted 38 days. The authorities had to release him but did not explain why they had failed to raise specific charges against him.
In exchange for custody the authorities have imposed on Sakas the following restrictive measures: prohibition from leaving the country and the region of Attica, he has to appear at the local police station every Monday and to reside at the address that he has declared, ban on any contacts with others accused of involvement in "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei", withdrawal of his foreign passport and bail to the amount of 30,000 euro.
In court, Sakas explained that he had failed to appear at the police station because he had spent the night at his girlfriend’s house and felt dizzy since he had drunk too much the previous evening. He had even accused the judges of "carrying out a political mission" against him.
The decision to release him was not unanimous but a majority one and was taken despite the prosecutor’s proposal to sentence Sakas.