Greek authorities filed formal charges earlier this month against
“persons unknown” for purportedly plotting to assassinate Kostas
Karamanlis, the Prime Minister at the time of the conspiracy dating from
2007-2009, in order to undermine the government. An anonymous court
official disclosed that the initial inquiry entailed interviews of Greek
police, Secret Service members, and the Karamanlis’ security detail.
Greek law permits charging “persons unknown” in the absence of a named
suspect. The maximum penalty for conviction on the conspiracy charge is
life imprisonment.
Epikaira , the Greek weekly newspaper, claimed in 2011 that the secret service of an unidentified Greek ally had been readying its attack when it was forced to terminate its mission because Russian intelligence learned of the plot and alerted the Greek government three years ago. The then chief of Greece’s National Intelligence Service, Ioannis Corantis, revealed to AP that the FSB had sounded the warning. The plot supposedly was rooted in the negotiations undertaken by the Karamanlis government regarding the South Stream pipeline project, intended to convey Russian gas to Europe, and in competition with Nabucco, the latter venture planned to traverse Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Austria. The South Stream project, with an anticipated completion date of 2015, would eliminate the annual transit fees totaling billions of dollars paid by Russia to the Ukraine.
Epikaira , the Greek weekly newspaper, claimed in 2011 that the secret service of an unidentified Greek ally had been readying its attack when it was forced to terminate its mission because Russian intelligence learned of the plot and alerted the Greek government three years ago. The then chief of Greece’s National Intelligence Service, Ioannis Corantis, revealed to AP that the FSB had sounded the warning. The plot supposedly was rooted in the negotiations undertaken by the Karamanlis government regarding the South Stream pipeline project, intended to convey Russian gas to Europe, and in competition with Nabucco, the latter venture planned to traverse Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Austria. The South Stream project, with an anticipated completion date of 2015, would eliminate the annual transit fees totaling billions of dollars paid by Russia to the Ukraine.
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