On May 5, 2010, the day of Greece’s massive general strike, journalist Ilias Provopoulos was inside the Ianos bookstore with his friend, Vasilis Chatziiakovou, who was then the store’s manager. As demonstrators marched along Stadiou Street, the two men noticed a group of masked individuals who appeared distinct from the rest of the crowd.
“They had identifying markers so they could coordinate with one another. Some wore khaki caps and others black caps,” Chatziiakovou recalls. “They came down Edouardou Lo Street. It was as if they were wearing a uniform – they stood out. I’d never seen anything like it before,” Provopoulos adds.
Provopoulos photographed the group moments before events took a deadly turn.
What followed was the arson attack on the Marfin Bank branch directly across the street, in which three employees – Epameinondas Tsakalis, Paraskevi Zoulia and Angeliki Papathanasopoulou – lost their lives.
The two eyewitnesses recall seeing three members of the masked group move toward the bank. One of them, whom they describe as “taller than the others,” allegedly smashed the front window.
