Alexis Papahelas, Kathimerini Executive Editor, talking with Robert Clifford, FBI legal attaché in Athens from 2000-2004 [Stefanos Bertakis]
I joined The Economist full-time in 2018. As the only Greek in our editorial department, I have visited Athens with our Europe editor for meetings with politicians and bankers to discuss the economy and the country’s recovery since the bailouts. Last year I went with one of our audio producers to record a podcast, titled Athens Confidential, for our Weekend Intelligence series.
For those of us who grew up in Athens in the 1980s and 90s, the background to our lives was the “17th of November” wreaking havoc. Known as “17N”, this urban guerrilla group, which claimed its ideological origins in Marxism-Leninism, committed armed robberies, bombing attacks and assassinated a range of prominent men. In December 1975 Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens, was gunned down in front of his house. Americans serving in the navy and air force, Greek captains of industry, publishers, bankers, policemen and politicians followed. When Stephen Saunders, military attaché at the British embassy in Athens, was killed while on his way to work, Scotland Yard and MI6 joined the Greek police and the FBI in their efforts to trace the interconnected terrorist cells that had been eluding the authorities for almost three decades.
A new six-part documentary on 17N and the destruction it caused is all the rage in Greek media. Alexis Papahelas, an investigative journalist and the editor of Kathimerini, a newspaper, had been reporting on the story for years. Bringing together archival footage and interviews, the result is a shocking account of murder carried out in cold blood. It is also an adrenaline-fuelled watch.
For a long time Greek police did not operate a DNA database. Their lack of technical equipment prevented them from making any breakthroughs. So too did a lack of professional training, which led to the mishandling of evidence and tips. That is no longer the case. Greek police have caught up with the rest of Europe when it comes to co-ordinating complex investigations.
Relatives of the Greek victims declined to participate in the documentary because it includes footage of Dimitris Koufontinas, a man convicted of 11 assassinations, being interviewed in prison. As a journalist I applaud Mr Papahelas’s rigour and professional integrity but the sight is jarring and I understand why people are upset. Hannah Arendt’s concept of “the banality of evil” comes to mind.
As a Greek citizen living in London, I find this devastating story to be the one that best shows the country’s transformation from a place where institutions did not work to a modern and efficient European country where due process is followed and accountability is pursued. There is still plenty of room for improvement but as this compelling documentary shows, the days of unchecked executioners and intimidation seem to be behind us.
The article first appeared in The Economist newsletter “Café Europa.”