A court in Athens ordered the pre-trial detention of two men accused in connection with the deadly 2010 arson attack on a Marfin bank branch in central Athens that claimed the lives of three employees during anti-austerity protests.
The two defendants, both 42 years old, appeared before an investigating magistrate and prosecutor on Monday before being remanded in custody pending further judicial proceedings.
The suspects deny all charges against them.
Greek authorities allege the men participated in the attack on the Marfin branch on Stadiou Street on May 5, 2010, when assailants threw firebombs into the building during one of the largest demonstrations of Greece’s financial crisis.
Three bank employees — 32-year-old pregnant employee Angeliki Papathanasopoulou, Paraskevi Zoulia, 35, and Epameinondas Tsakalis, 36 — died after becoming trapped inside the burning building.
The incident shocked Greece and became one of the defining tragedies of the country’s debt crisis, prompting widespread condemnation across the political spectrum.
New evidence emerged on Marfin fire
According to investigators, new evidence gathered during a renewed investigation led authorities to identify the suspects and proceed with arrests earlier this month.
Prosecutors allege that one defendant participated directly in the attack on the bank branch while the second played an operational role during the incident. These allegations have not been tested in court.
Defense lawyers rejected the accusations and argued that the evidence presented by investigators is insufficient.
A third suspect, a 46-year-old woman residing in the United Kingdom, has reportedly accepted extradition proceedings and remains in custody pending her transfer to Greece.
The Marfin attack remains one of the few deadly incidents of political violence associated with the years of austerity protests that shook Greece during the sovereign debt crisis.
For many Greeks, the deaths of the three employees became a symbol of the human cost of political extremism and one of the country’s deepest collective traumas during the economic turmoil of the early 2010s.
The judicial investigation is continuing, and no trial date has yet been announced.
Related: Marfin Firebombing: How Greek Police Finally Identified Suspects 16 Years Later
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