Prison sentences amounting to 44 times life, 264 years and three months and total fines of 64,400 euros were imposed on the 13 convicted members of the terror group November 17 by a Five-member Athens Appeals Court on Monday.

Earlier this month, the court had upheld guilty verdicts issued by the first-instance court in nearly all cases involving the defendants.

Total prison time and fines were reduced from the 55 life sentences, 301 years imprisonment and fines of 93,000 euros originally imposed by a lower-level court after some of the original sentences were merged.

The court also ruled that the convicts Alexandros Giotopoulos, Dimitris Koufodinas, Vassilis Tzortzatos and Iraklis Kostaris be deprived of their political rights for 10 years, Panagiotis Tselentis, Vassilis Xiros and Costas Telios be deprived for eight years, Costas Karatsolis and Dimitris Georgiadis for six years and, finally, Sotiris Kondylis and Thomas Serifis for five years.

Specifically, the court imposed:

Seventeen times life and 25 years imprisonment and a fine of 13,300 euros on Alexandros Giotopoulos, who was convicted as the group's leader and mastermind.
Eleven times life and 25 years and a fine of 12,500 euros on Dimitris Koufodinas, considered to be the group's leading hitman and "number 2".
Six times life and 25 years and a fine of 3,500 on Christodoulos Xiros.
Five times life and 25 years and a fine of 22,900 euros on Savvas Xiros.
Four times life and 25 years and a fine of 4,500 euros on Vassilis Tzortzatos.
One time life and 25 years and a fine of 1,000 euros on Iraklis Kostaris.
25 years imprisonment and a fine of 3,700 euros on Vassilis Xiros.
25 years imprisonment on Patroklos Tselentis.
25 years imprisonment on Costas Tselios.
17 years imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 euros on Costas Karatsolis.
11 years, three months imprisonment and a fine of 500 euros on Sotiris Kondylis.
Eight years imprisonment and a fine of 1,500 euros on Dionysis Georgiadis.
Eight years imprisonment on Thomas Serifis.

Based on the court's ruling, Serifis and Kondylis can immediately apply for release on parole, to be judged by the appropriate judicial council, while Karatsolis can apply after a year and a half.

Defence lawyers for Tselentis and Telios also asked that their clients' sentences be suspended in recognition of their collaboration with police that led to dismantling the terror group. This was turned down at the urging of prosecutor on the bench Efterpi Koutzamani, who argued that the pair were members of a particularly murderous organisation and that neither had made a significant contribution to the investigation by police, which had already made significant headway when they were caught.

In Tselentis' case, in particular, she noted that the cases he had been involved in had been particularly bloody and that his contribution to the police investigation had already been recognised by the lower court, which had admitted "sincere remorse" as a mitigating circumstance.

Source: Athens News Agency

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