ATHENS, May 11: Two high-ranking Greek intelligence officers face kidnapping charges over the abduction and interrogation of Pakistanis seized here last year in a security follow-up to the London bombing, a court source said on Thursday.
The prosecutor at the Greek supreme court had identified the two as the possible perpetrators of the kidnappings as investigations spread to Athens following the July 7 London attacks that claiming 56 lives.
But the prosecution said it could not pursue enquiries against a British MI6 intelligence agent alleged to have taken part in the interrogations because the individual concerned “enjoyed diplomatic immunity,” the source said.
The Greek press earlier identified the British agent and published a photograph of him, but the British government has denied any involvement in the affair.
The conclusions reached by the prosecutor opened the way to legal proceedings against the two officers of the Greek security service EYP, the court source said. The officers’ identities were not disclosed.
Prosecutors opened an enquiry after allegations made by some 10 of 30 Pakistani immigrants living in Athens who said they had been kidnapped and interrogated illegally by police about supposed links with the London bombings, Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity.
Fifty-six people, including four Islamic extremist bombers, were killed and more than 700 were injured in the attacks on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus during the London morning rush hour.
The Pakistani charges target eight EYP agents, but the prosecutor’s office said only two were being investigated further because there was no evidence against the others.
Shortly after the preliminary enquiry into the Greek intelligence agents began, ex-public order minister George Vulgarakis denied before a parliamentary committee that police had secretly interrogated foreigners living in the country following the London bombings.—AFP
