Fugitive terrorist wounded in Athens shootout
Greek police shot and wounded a prominent member of a guerilla group after a chase and gunfight in central Athens yesterday in which a policeman and two tourists were also wounded.
Greek police shot and wounded a prominent member of a guerilla group after a chase and gunfight in central Athens yesterday in which a policeman and two tourists were also wounded.
Nikos Maziotis was charged in 2010 over a series of attacks claimed by the Revolutionary Struggle group, including a rocket-propelled grenade assault on the US embassy in Athens in 2007 and a 2009 car bomb that damaged the Athens stock exchange.
Maziotis, 42, was detained in Athens' busy Monastiraki district in broad daylight, having been on the run since 2012.
"After an exchange of fire with police, he was injured and captured," police said. Maziotis was injured in the shoulder. The two tourists hurt were reportedly a German and an Australian.
Police were looking for a second suspect, a police official said.
After spending the maximum period of 18 months in pre-trial detention, Maziotis was released in 2012 with orders to regularly appear at a police station until his trial concluded.
But after the trial began, Maziotis went on the run with his partner, also a charged member of Revolutionary Struggle.
Last year, they were sentenced to jail in absentia. In January, the authorities offered €1 million (HK$10.5 million) for help in Maziotis' capture.
