Greek police took two people into custody Friday in connection with a deadly firebomb attack that dates back to 2010, in which three employees of an Athens bank lost their lives while some bystanders in the street below reportedly shouted for the victims to be left to perish in the flames.
The three victims — a man and two women, including one who was pregnant — worked at the Marfin bank branch that was targeted when protesters hurled firebombs into the building. The attack unfolded during a massive demonstration involving tens of thousands of people who had gathered for a general strike against government-imposed austerity measures.
Friday’s arrests mark the first time anyone has been taken into custody specifically for carrying out the firebombing. A previous suspect had been acquitted on all charges. In 2013, three bank officials were found guilty of failing to maintain adequate safety conditions inside the branch.
Greece’s Minister for Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, issued a statement following the arrests. “Our democracy is strong and always wins in the end. It does not win vengefully. Its victories have to do with vindication and the administration of justice,” he said.
He continued: “There cannot be a crime, the taking of a life, without the administration of justice. There cannot be democracy without the administration of justice.”
Chrysochoidis also noted that on the same day, three additional individuals were arrested in connection with a separate series of bomb attacks targeting members of Greece’s governing conservative New Democracy party. Those attacks occurred on July 1, leaving one person dead and four others injured.
The fatal arson at the Marfin bank took place on May 5, 2010, during the early phase of Greece’s prolonged financial crisis — a period that stretched nearly a decade and saw severe austerity measures, including significant cuts to pensions and wages, imposed on the Greek population in exchange for three consecutive international bailout packages.
The bank was located along the route of the large protest march held during the general strike. As the demonstration turned violent, some in the crowd began throwing Molotov cocktails into the building. The fire spread rapidly, cutting off escape routes for the employees inside.
When the trapped workers managed to reach a small balcony to escape the thick smoke, some of the crowd gathered below reportedly shouted for them to be left to burn, reportedly because the employees had been working during a general strike. Firefighters faced significant delays getting to the scene due to the size of the crowd blocking access.
Greek investigators reopened the case into the deaths in 2020. The financial crisis that spawned the protests ultimately erased roughly a quarter of Greece’s entire economy, pushing the country into a deep depression marked by soaring poverty and unemployment rates that climbed to approximately 27%. While Greece’s economy has gradually recovered since then, the crisis left lasting scars on the country’s society.
