On Wednesday, a young man was arrested in the Vyronas neighborhood of southeast Athens as part of a police operation against an impending terrorist attack against the Greek capital. Exactly who he is remains a mystery to authorities. The man, age unknown, was arrested at a cafe across the street from a garage that served as a shelter for the Revolutionary Struggle, an anarchist terrorist group headed by Nikos Maziotis. While Maziotis currently sits in jail, his partner, Paula Roupa, a fugitive, has pledged to spearhead the group’s activities. The Greek police have been able to ascertain virtually nothing about the young man arrested on Wednesday. He has no previous criminal record and has never raised police suspicions in the past. He was possibly a recent recruit to the Revolutionary Struggle. In a press conference on Thursday, Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Greek Police Chief Lieutenant General Dimitris Tsaknakis publicized details regarding the thwarted terrorist operation. Notes in the man’s backpack indicate that a major attack was being planned for October 4, the founding anniversary of the ruling New Democracy party. An escape plan discovered in the Vyronas garage suggested additional strikes against notable Greek businessmen and shipowners: Theodoros Veniamis, Evangelos Marinakis, as well as the head of the Association of Greek Industries, Theodoros Fessas and his wife. The suspect is Greek but also speaks Italian. He is of stocky build and has refused to provide any details regarding his identity or degree of involvement in the Revolutionary Struggle. He is being held on charges of police resistance, grievous bodily harm, as well as the creation and possession of an explosive device. The police were impressed by his strength; it took twenty officers to hold him down and fingerprint him. He first drew police attention ten days ago, when the police received a tip about a potential arsenal at a garage in Vyronas. The garage’s owner informed the police that he had leased out the garage in June 2013 to a Greek citizen. The garage’s leasing agreement was found to carry the fingerprints of well-known terror suspect Nikos Maziotis. Inside the garage, police found the same car storage roof rack that had been used during Revolutionary Struggle’s attack on the Bank of Greece last April. It was immediately evident that the garage had been leased by members of the terrorist group.
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