Revolutionary Struggle

This is an article about a Greek revolutionary group. For the Marxist theory, see World revolution. For the Irish militant group, see Revolutionary Struggle (Ireland)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Revolutionary Struggle (Greek: Επαναστατικός Αγώνας, Epanastatikos Agonas — EA) is a Greek rebel group known for its attacks on Greek government buildings and the American embassy in Athens. It is designated as a terrorist group by the Greek government, EU and United States.^[1][2][3]

History

This section requires expansion.

2003–2007 attacks

The group first emerged in 2003 with a bombing attack on an Athens courthouse complex, following that up with attacks in 2004 on Citibank and an Athens police station.^[1] In May 2004, the group published its first manifesto in the Greek satirical magazine, To Pontiki, in which it expressed revolutionary, anarchist, anti-globalisation and anti-imperialist ideological aims.^[2] Following a January 12, 2007 RPG-7 attack on the U.S. Embassy, Greek authorities mistakenly described the group as a spinoff of Revolutionary Organization 17 November.^[4][5]

Responsibility

In a statement published in To Pontiki on January 25, Revolutionary Struggle admitted that it had carried out the embassy attack, claiming that the "strike was our answer to the criminal war against 'terrorism' that the US has unleashed over the entire planet with the help of fellow-traveling states".^[6]

Terrorist designation

The European Union added RS to its list of designated terrorist organizations on June 29, 2007.^[7] On May 18, 2009, a U.S. State Department spokesman announced in a press briefing that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had formally designated Revolutionary Struggle as a foreign terrorist organization under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.^[8]

Investigation

In January 2009, Greek police said their ballistics tests showed the weapon used in RS's 30 April 2007 attack was used again in a 5 January 2009 shooting of a police officer. A second weapon used in the 5 January attack was tied by the police to a 23 December 2008 attack on a police bus. That attack was reported to have been claimed by a group calling itself Popular Action (Λαϊκή Δράση, Laiki Drasi), as a response to the 2008 civil unrest in Greece.^[9]

2010 arrests

On March 11, 2010, two men were spotted breaking into a car (SEAT Ibiza) in Dafni, Attica at 4.40am and resisted arrest by firing on the police officers. One of them, who was later found to have been on the terrorist watch list since 1995, was shot dead, but the other escaped. However, the escapee left forensic evidence which linked him to previous terrorist attacks.^[10]

In April 2010 after a long investigation, 6 suspected members of the group were apprehended. The subsequent investigation lead police to over €119,000 in cash, Zastava handguns, fake IDs which were used to rent safehouses, explosives (195 kg of ANFO hidden in a motorbike garage) and detailed plans of future terrorist attacks.^[11][12][13]

Later, police investigating another address in Kypseli rented under another false ID used by the suspects discovered an RPG-7. Other weapons discovered here included many hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs and an MP5 submachine gun that ballistics later linked conclusively to previous attacks.^[14][15]

Prosecutors charged the six with participating in bomb attacks, participating in a terrorist group, attempted murder, and other crimes. The accused have previously denied any wrongdoing.^[16] However, in late April 2010, the three prime suspects being held confirmed their guilt in a letter to the press and promised to continue their revolutionary activities as long as they are living.^[17]

List of attacks

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)

• September 5, 2003: Bomb attack on an Athens courthouse.
• May 5, 2004: Bomb attack on an Athens police station.
• October 29, 2004: Bomb/rocket attack on Greek police buses.
• June 2, 2005: Bomb attack on a labour ministry building.
• December 12, 2005: Bomb attack on a finance ministry building in Syntagma Square, Athens.
• May 30, 2006: Assassination attempt on Georgios Voulgarakis, the Culture Minister and former Public Order Minister.
• January 12, 2007: Wasp 58 LAW rocket attack on the United States Embassy in Athens.
• April 30, 2007: Shots fired at police station in Athens suburbe of Nea Ionia.
• December 23, 2008: Shots fired at bus transporting riot police outside Athens University.
• January 5, 2009: Shots fired at police guarding the Ministry of Culture building in Athens. A 21-year-old member of the riot police unit, Diamandis Mantzounis, was critically wounded in the body and leg. Weapons traced to those used in the 30 April 2007 and 23 December 2008 shootings.
• February 18, 2009: Failed car bomb attack on the Citibank offices in central Athens. Police later said the bomb was powerful enough to destroy the four-story building.
• 9 March 2009: Bomb attack on a Citibank branch in suburban Athens.^[18]
• 12 May 2009: Bomb attack on a Eurobank branch in suburban Athens.^[19]
• 3 July 2009: Suspected firebomb attack on a tax office in Athens Ambelokipi district.^[20]
• 3 July 2009: Suspected bomb attack on a McDonald's in Athens Ambelokipi district causes "extensive damage." ^[21]
• 2 September 2009: Explosion outside the Athens stock exchange causing minor injures to one woman and significant damage to the surrounding area. A second bomb in Thessaloniki causing minor damage and no injuries. The group is suspect.^[22]
• 16 February 2010: A bomb exploded outside of a JP Morgan Bank in Athens, authorities suspected the Revolutionary Struggle or Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei were responsible.^[23]
• 13 May 2010: A bomb exploded outside Korydallos Prison in Athens, injuring a woman. Police suspected the Revolutionary Struggle.^[24]
• 14 May 2010: Only one day after the bomb-explosion in Athens a second bomb explode in the court of Thessaloniki. One person was injured. The building got heavily damaged inside.
• 25 June 2010: A parcel bomb exploded within the Greek Ministry of Public Order. The bomb was addressed to the Minister of Public Order, Michalis Chrysohoidis, but was instead opened by Giorgos Vassilakis, his aide. Giorgos was killed in the attack. While not immediately claimed by Revolutionary Struggle, Greek terrorism expert Dr Athanasios Drougas said the attack was likely carried out by the group.^[25]

See also

• Terrorism in Greece

References

External links

• MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base