Prosecutions against those responsible for the Karamanlis assassination plan

It is a story which seems to be unbelievable. By decision of the first instance court prosecutor S. Ornerakis, who investigated the journalistic revelations of the summer of 2011, there are criminal prosecutions levied against all those responsible for the assassination plot against former PM Costas Karamanlis.

The initial survey was completed, and now the case can be assigned to a regular trial judge, who will be required to continue the investigation to substantiate the basic conclusions of journalistic investigation.

Was there an assassination plot against Costas Karamanlis? Who was looking for ways to “intervene” in the political developments of Greece? Who wanted to destabilize the country?

These questions will have to be asked, directly or indirectly, by the judicial inquiry.

According to newspaper reports published in “Epikaira” magazine on June 2011, in February 2009, National Intelligence briefed the then Karamanlis government that the Agency received a tip from the Russian Federal Security Agency (FSB) that a 19-man-strong Russian “workgroup” which was active in Greece had identified and revealed a plot to assassinate the former PM “in order to postpone the cancellation of the energy policy of the country”. The reason for the Russian team’s activation was in the footsteps of those who allegedly plotted Mr. Karamanlis’ assassination through the “attempt to wiretap telephone conversations between Mr. Karamanlis, Mr. Putin and J. Parvanov”.

According to the National Agency’s document, at least one of the groups came face to face with men who had been watching the car of the then PM in Nea Makri, between April 20 and 25, 2008. The Russian agency refers to the existence of a plan named “Oracle 1”, which included four points: “Political instability (Vatopedi case), business destabilization (degradation of the Greek economy and kidnapping of businessmen), social instability (social unrest and terrorism) and various problems in foreign policy”.

This same paper by the National Intelligence Agency also includes the Russian intelligence’s estimates, according to which “the current generation of terrorists is controlled by Western intelligence agencies”. Specific reference is made to the monitoring team of the former PM, estimated at 20 individuals, highlighting that “they do not belong to the anti-authoritarian clique”, while at least one case was found to include up to two more young people “who were probably British”.

A vehicle abandoned by this group, which was then investigated by Russian agents according to the National Intelligence document, was found containing data about the recording of the route that the former PM used to take, maps, night-vision goggles, C-4 explosives, Tokarev and Kalashnikov weapons, camouflage material, military make-up, communication devices synchronized to police frequencies and other materials.

These findings were transported for examination to the central Moscow offices and based on the analyses done, Russian intelligence came to the conclusion that there was an “organized” plot of tracking the target (C. Karamanlis), organized by Western Intelligence agencies with the participation of Israeli intelligence. This project was carried out mainly by Greeks. Its objective was to orchestrate an attack against the target, especially with the purpose of delaying, or cancelling outright, the country’s energy policy”.