ATHENS (Reuters) – A Greek prosecutor charged 10 people on Wednesday over a series of recent bomb and hand grenade attacks, including a planned parcel bomb explosion at a court in the northern city of Thessaloniki this month, judicial sources said.
Small bomb and arson attacks were frequent during the country’s 2009-2018 debt crisis amid anger over austerity measures and hardship, and had decreased in the past five years. But the country has seen a resurgence of such attacks in recent months.
Four of the suspects are already in prison for other crimes, police said in a statement on Tuesday after the remaining six were arrested. Police said they confiscated guns, explosives, mobile phones and other electronic devices after raiding nine apartments and three jail cells.
On Wednesday, the suspects were charged with “setting up and participating in a terrorist organisation” and “illegal gun possession” among other charges, according to a legal document. They are expected to respond to the charges on Sunday.
An anarchist guerrilla group claimed responsibility last week for a planned parcel bomb attack against a judge at a courthouse in Thessaloniki this month. It was the third such incident since December.
The parcel, sent to a senior judge, contained explosive material but was confiscated by police before it exploded.
In a statement uploaded on the Athens Indymedia website last week, the anarchist group “Armed Response” claimed responsibility for the makeshift bomb and warned of more attacks against prosecutors, police and judges, including the judge who was meant to receive the parcel.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Deepa Babington)
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