Fresh details have emerged about the police investigation that led to the arrest of three suspects over the deadly 2010 arson attack on the Marfin bank branch in central Athens, as defense lawyers dismissed the evidence as inadequate and cautioned against premature conclusions.
Two of the suspects are expected to testify before an investigating magistrate in Athens Tuesday, while a third will face an extradition application before a court in London.
According to a report by the police’s Subdirectorate for Crimes Against Life and Property, investigators re-examined images showing a group of 12 hooded individuals on Stadiou Street shortly before the May 5, 2010 attack, in which bank employees Epaminondas Tsakalis, Paraskevi Zoulias and Angeliki Papathanasopoulou died from smoke inhalation after a Molotov cocktail and accelerant were thrown into the bank.
The photographs, taken by a photographer from the nearby Ianos bookstore, did not reveal the suspects’ faces. However, police said witness testimony enabled them to identify which members of the group participated in the attack.
Investigators then compared the images with photographs from holidays taken by people previously investigated in cases linked to the anarchist/anti-authoritarian scene. They said similarities in body type, hats, glasses, footwear and distinctive backpacks – including one bearing the “DK” logo of the US punk band Dead Kennedys – helped identify two of the suspects.
