ATHENS — The leader of Greece’s most deadly and now-disbanded guerrilla organization will be heading back to prison after the nation’s highest court overturned his release, according to police sources and the Athens News Agency.
Alexandros Giotopoulos, 82, founded and led the Marxist group known as November 17, which carried out assassinations over a 27-year period before Greek authorities dismantled it in 2002. Giotopoulos was arrested that same year.
He and other members of the organization were found guilty by a Greek court in 2003. Although Giotopoulos maintained his innocence, an appeals court handed down a sentence of 17 life terms plus an additional 25 years in 2007.
On May 21 of this year, Giotopoulos walked free from Korydallos high-security prison in Athens after a judicial panel granted a release request he had submitted in 2025, citing deteriorating health, according to media reports.
However, the Supreme Court stepped in this week and approved a prosecutor’s move to reverse that decision, the Athens News Agency reported.
Giotopoulos appeared before a prosecutor on Tuesday and was expected to be transported back to Korydallos prison later that same day.
