US embassy cable - 00ATHENS1937

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001937 
 
FOR EUR/SE;S/CT 
 
E.O.  12958:  DECL:  04/20/10 
TAGS:  PTER, GR 
SUBJECT:  PRESS SUPPLEMENT ON THE 25-YEAR HISTORY OF 17 NOVEMBER 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR R. NICHOLAS BURNS; REASON 1.5 (B,D) 
 
1.  (U) THE ATHENS DAILY, "ELEFTHEROTYPIA," PUBLISHED A DETAILED 
23-PAGE SUPPLEMENT TO ITS APRIL 15 EDITION, ENTITLED "25 YEARS OF 
17N."  AT FIRST BLUSH, THE SUPPLEMENT SEEMED TO BE A TYPE OF 
EXPOSE ON 17 NOVEMBER.  ON CLOSER READING, THE COVERAGE'S MESSAGE 
IS NOT HARD-HITTING.  INDEED, THE SUPPLEMENT MAKES A CASE FOR A 
KIND OF ARMISTICE BETWEEN THE AUTHORITIES AND 17 NOVEMBER AND AN 
INFORMAL AMNESTY FOR THOSE WHO COMMITTED TERRORIST CRIMES. 
 
2.  (U) THE SUPPLEMENT CAN BE DIVIDED INTO ROUGHLY TWO PARTS. 
THE FIRST PRESENTS A FACTUAL HISTORY OF 17 NOVEMBER'S TERRORIST 
ACTIVITIES BEGINNING WITH THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD WELCH IN 
DECEMBER 1975, COMPLETE WITH A DETAILED AND NEARLY COMPREHENSIVE 
CHRONOLOGY AND A MAP OF MAJOR 17 NOVEMBER ATTACKS IN GREATER 
ATHENS.  THE ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS IN THE FIRST PART CONTAIN 
ALMOST NO NEW INFORMATION AND PRESENT LONG-STANDING, WELL-KNOWN 
VIEWS.  COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS, SOME OF WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN 
PUBLICIZED BEFORE (AND COULD ONLY HAVE COME FROM POLICE FILES), 
ALSO APPEAR.  AMONG THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS PART OF THE 
SUPPLEMENT ARE: 
 
     -- PROSECUTOR IOANNIS DIOTIS, WHO ARGUES THAT THE 
COUNTERTERRORIST LAWS NOW IN THE BOOKS ARE SUFFICIENT FOR 
PURSUING 17 NOVEMBER AND SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS.  THE WEAKNESS, HE 
SAYS, IS THE JURY SYSTEM, WHICH OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRIBERY 
AND THREATS.  DIOTIS SAYS JURIES ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR 
TERRORIST CASES. 
 
     -- LAW PROFESSOR NIKOS PARASKEVOPOULOS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
THESSALONIKI, WHO DISCUSSES THE HISTORY OF COUNTERTERRORIST PENAL 
LEGISLATION. 
 
     -- NEW DEMOCRACY DEPUTY DORA BAKOGIANNI (INTERVIEW), WHOSE 
HUSBAND, PAVLOS BAKOGIANNIS, AN ND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, WAS 
GUNNED DOWN BY 17 NOVEMBER IN 1989.  AMONG OTHER THINGS, SHE SAYS 
THAT PASOK'S REPEAL OF THE COUNTERTERRORIST LAWS PASSED BY THE 
MITSOTAKIS WAS A MISTAKE THAT HAD NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES.  SHE 
BELIEVES THAT JURIES SHOULD NOT BE A PART OF TERRORIST TRIALS. 
 
     -- FORMER PASOK PUBLIC ORDER MINISTER STELIOS PAPATHEMELIS 
(INTERVIEW), WHO SUGGESTS THAT 17 NOVEMBER HAS BECOME A KIND OF 
EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION THAT DIRECTS OTHERS AND PROBABLY NO LONGER 
REPRESENTS ITS PAST FANATICAL LEFTIST VIEWS EVEN THOUGH IT MAY 
CONTINUE TO USE THE RADICAL VOCABULARY OF AN EARLIER ERA. 
 
3.  (U)  THE SECOND PART OF THE SUPPLEMENT, COMPRISING AN 
INTERVIEW, TWO ESSAYS, AND AN UNSIGNED ARTICLE IS DEVOTED TO HOW 
TO APPROACH THE 17 NOVEMBER QUESTION, EFFECTIVELY PROMOTING AN 
INFORMAL AMNESTY. 
 
     -- IN AN INTERVIEW, YIANNIS PANOUSIS, IDENTIFIED AS A 
PROFESSOR OF CRIMINOLOGY, ARGUES THAT THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE 
GREEK GOVERNMENT TO ARRIVE AT A "POLITICAL" SOLUTION TO THE 17 
NOVEMBER ISSUE.  THE GOVERNMENT, HE SAYS, SHOULD CONSIDER 
"REHABILITATION" OF 17 NOVEMBER MEMBERS, ADDING THAT THE GREEK 
PEOPLE "HAVE FORGIVEN GERMANS, TURKS, AND THE JUNTA."  THE 
INTERVIEW IS ENTITLED, "A VARKIZA IS NEEDED FOR TERRORISM," 
REFERRING TO THE TOWN SOUTH OF ATHENS WHERE THE COMMUNIST-LED 
RESISTANCE AND THE BRITISH-BACKED ROYAL GOVERNMENT SIGNED AN 
ARMISTICE IN 1945 AFTER INITIAL FIGHTING, FOLLOWING THE WITHDRAWAL 
OF GERMAN OCCUPATION FORCES. 
 
     -- IN HER ESSAY, "POLITICAL VIOLENCE:  A GREEK UNIQUENESS," 
MARY BOSSI, A FORMER HIGH-LEVEL PUBLIC ORDER MINISTRY OFFICIAL 
RESPONSIBLE FOR COUNTERTERRORISM UNDER THEN PRIME MINISTER 
MITSOTAKIS, REPEATS HER WELL-KNOWN VIEWS.  SHE IS CRITICAL OF 
WHAT SHE CALLS THE "APOLOGETIC" POSTURE OF GREEK GOVERNMENTS VIS- 
A-VIS THE U.S. ON ITS EFFORTS TO CAPTURE THE TERRORISTS. 
SUGGESTING AN AMNESTY, BOSSI SAYS THAT THE "HONORABLE RETIREMENT" 
OF THE 17 NOVEMBER QUESTION WOULD BE A KIND OF A SOLUTION. 
 
     -- SOPHIA VIDALI, A LECTURER AT THE SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION 
FACULTY OF THE DEMOCRITUS UNIVERSITY OF THRACE, STATES IN HER 
ESSAY, "TIME TO FACE POLITICAL MEASURES," THAT THE MAIN VIOLENT 
THREAT CONFRONTING GREECE TODAY IS MAINSTREAM CRIME RATHER 
POLITICALLY MOTIVATED TERRORISM.  SHE SAYS THAT TERRORISM IS NOW 
A QUESTION ONLY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS.  TERRORISM, SHE CONTINUES, 
SHOULD BE DEALT WITH ON "POLITICAL TERMS."  WHILE THE VICTIMS OF 
TERRORISM SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN, SHE ARGUES THAT A "DEMOCRATIC 
POLITICAL SYSTEM CANNOT FUNCTION ON THE BASIS OF RETRIBUTION." 
 
     -- AN UNSIGNED ARTICLE STATES THAT, ACCORDING TO A REPORT BY 
PROSECUTION OFFICIALS, 17 NOVEMBER'S TERRORIST ACTIVITIES HAVE 
DECREASED AND ARE LIKELY TO FALL TO ZERO IN THE FUTURE. 
NEVERTHELESS, THE REPORT NOTES THAT 17 NOVEMBER COULD BECOME 
ACTIVE AGAIN AND WOULD THEN HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED THE NUMBER ONE 
TERRORIST THREAT FOR GREECE. 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT:  THE IDEA OF A "POLITICAL SETTLEMENT" OF THE 
TERRORIST QUESTION IN GREECE, HOWEVER UNWELCOME, IS NOT 
ALTOGETHER NEW.  DEVOTING AN ENTIRE SUPPLEMENT TO THE ISSUE IS A 
DEPARTURE IN PRESS PRACTICE, HOWEVER.  IN THE PAST, 
"ELEFTHEROTYPIA," WITH THE SECOND LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ALL 
GREEK NEWSPAPERS, HAS SERVED AS A MOUTHPIECE FOR LEFT-WING CAUSES 
AND HAS PUBLISHED PROCLAMATIONS OF 17 NOVEMBER.  THE TONE OF THE 
SUPPLEMENT IS THEREFORE NOT SURPRISING.  WE WILL NEED TO BLUNT 
THIS LINE OF ARGUMENTATION WHEN WE LAUNCH OUR REWARDS PROGRAM IN 
THE COMING MONTH.  LEST THERE BE VOICES IN THE SIMITIS 
ADMINISTRATION PUSHING FOR A "POLITICAL" SOLUTION," WE WILL ALSO 
NEED TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR TO THE GREEK GOVERNMENT THAT THIS 
IS NOT THE KIND OF RESOLUTION OF THE TERRORIST PROBLEM THAT WE 
HAVE IN MIND.  INTERESTINGLY, THE SUPPLEMENT HAS GONE VIRTUALLY 
UNNOTICED AND UNREMARKED IN THE GREEK POLITICAL SCENE.  THAT, BY 
ITSELF, DEMONSTRATES THE UPHILL TASK WE FACE IN GALVANIZING 
PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR GREEK GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION OF A ZERO- 
TOLERANCE POLICY ON TERRORISM. 
 
BURNS