ATHENS: Greece’s top administrative court on Tuesday declined to block the prison transfer of a notorious far-left hitman whose life is in danger after a two-month hunger strike, a judicial source said.
The Council of State said it did not have the jurisdiction to temporarily block the transfer to the maximum security Domokos prison in central Greece as requested by Dimitris Koufodinas, formerly the top assassin of the extremist November 17 group.
The court has set an Apr 2 hearing for Koufodinas’ request that his transfer to Domokos be cancelled altogether.
Koufodinas, 63, is serving multiple life sentences for 11 murders for the November 17 group, which for 20 years targeted industrialists, policemen, foreign diplomats and soldiers, before being dismantled in 2002.
He began a hunger strike in January after being denied transfer to a high-security jail in Athens to be near his family, and his health has been in critical condition for the last two weeks.
Koufodinas’ lawyer last week said he had agreed to receive a liquid serum intravenously at the request of two family doctors, after developing acute kidney failure.
Another court last week denied his request to suspend his sentence, ruling that his worsening condition was not due to an illness, but to his decision to go on a hunger strike.
Protests have regularly been held in solidarity with Koufodinas in recent weeks.
November 17’s victims included Pavlos Bakoyannis, a lawmaker who was the father of Athens Mayor Costas Bakoyannis and brother-in-law to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. — AFP
