Far-right group planned bomb hits

Citing love of Zeus, 5 suspects held for Peloponnese blasts had eyed other targets

Five suspected members of a farright group calling itself Epsilon – Greek Fighters’ Faction, who were charged early yesterday for bomb blasts last week in Kalamata and Mystras in the Peloponnese, had been planning a barrage of similar attacks on tax offices and courts in the region, according to police sources.

The suspects, a 52-year-old man from Kalamata and four men from Drama, northeastern Greece, aged 25 to 34, reportedly told police that they believe in Zeus and are against both Christianity and Golden Dawn. The suspects reportedly described the neofascist party as “a white Beelzebub of the 21st century” and claimed the party was being “manipulated.” The 52-year-old, an IT specialist, is believed to be the group’s ringleader, having launched the blog omada-epsilon.blogspot.gr in 2009.

He and his four co-defendants are suspected of planting rudimentary explosive devices outside the Bank of Greece in Kalamata and at the statue of Byzantine Emperor Constantine Palaiologos in Mystras. Nobody was injured in the blasts last Friday. In both cases a symbol known as the Delphic Epsilon was spray-painted onto the walls where the explosions took place. The symbol appears at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi.

In raids on the suspects’ homes, the police seized explosives, shotguns, some 2,500 cartridges, swords and bows and arrows. Officers also found an 11-page document with the title “The new globally imposed Masonic super religion.”