A society unprepared for terrorism
When the proclamation was published in the Greek media and citizens became aware of Welch’s assassination, apart from questions about the sophistication and origin of the perpetrators and the surprise of the target choices, there was no record of any social dissatisfaction that could be behind such actions. Note that it was an era characterized by a highly politicized youth but also a broader politicized social body that was unprepared for terrorist acts of this type. Surprise and questions about the name of the organization emerged.
In this context, the prevailing perception was that the organization “borrowed” its name from the date of the culmination of the Athens Polytechnic University events. For some political circles, it was viewed as the exploitation of the uprising, while for others it was a form of political justification and a pole of reference.
In fact, several years after the emergence and ongoing action of the organization, there had still been no serious attempt to systematically record citizens’ views on how they perceived such actions. During the 27 years of its armed presence, they committed about 103 robberies, along with bombings and assassination attempts that resulted in 23 murders.
The “first generation” of the organization’s terrorists were replaced by the “second,” who, after the 2002 arrests, proved to have neither the ideological background nor the knowledge, nor the political conception and composition of the first generation.
The arrests revealed people with unsound ideology and problematic social behavior, while specific evidence allowed for the reflection on whether they were professionals paid to carry out murders of select high-interest targets.
Of the first generation, only Alexandros Giotopoulos was arrested, while the rest were never identified and therefore not arrested by law enforcement authorities. Ultimately, the original generation, their thoughts, beliefs and views on the possibilities of political violence, remain unknown.
It remains the genuine will of Greek society, but mainly of the state, to deal effectively with the chronic phenomenon of political violence-terrorism in Greece.
The arrests of the “second generation” members, a group of diverse perpetrators, obviously did not preoccupy the authorities so much as to consider it appropriate to conduct further investigations. Both the “political” and “operational” questions of so many years of armed action, as well as those regarding the huge sums of money from the plethora of robberies, remain unanswered. The case of the assassination of Richard Welch was not part of the November 17 trial. The 20-year statute of limitation for the offenses had passed; no one was punished.
Ultimately, the original generation, their thoughts, beliefs and views on the possibilities of political violence, remain unknown
> March 6
The Greek National Theater presents a stage adaptation of “The Free Besieged,” by Dionysios Solomos inspired by the 1825-26 siege of Mesolongi during the Greek War of Independence, an epic piece that occupied the Nobel-winning poet for two decades of his life and was left unfinished. The homage to humanity’s struggles for independence is directed by Thomas Papakonstantinou with original music by Dimitrios Skyllas and stars Antonis Myriangos and Lena Drosaki. It will be streamed at n-t.gr on March 6 with both Greek and French subtitles, with a viewing fee of 8 euros.