N17 leader, hitman jailed for life
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Giotopoulos was convicted of planning several murders.
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ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- The leader and chief hitman of the November 17 terror group have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Greek court for their roles in decades of murders, bombings and other crimes.
Alexandros Giotopoulos -- considered the November 17 ringleader -- and Dimitris Koufodinas, believed to be the group's key hitman, were found guilty last week along with 13 other members for around 2,500 crimes including bombings, bank robberies and multiple murders.
Giotopoulos, 59, was found guilty December 8 of planning numerous murders, including that of the British attaché Stephen Saunders, after a nine-month trial.
The three-man court convicted Giotopoulos of instigating 19 murders and Koufodinas, 45, of carrying out 13.
Prosecutors had demanded life sentences for both men as well as four other members of the radical Marxist group.
The remaining nine members could receive jail terms of up to 18 years, although four members will serve reduced sentences for cooperating with authorities. Another four members of the group were acquitted.
Nearly two dozen prominent Greeks as well as Turkish and U.S. diplomats were also among the group's victims.
Saunders, 53, was shot four times by two assailants riding a motorcycle while traveling to work In June 2000, during the morning rush hour on the busy Kiffisias avenue in Athens. He died three-and-a-half hours later.
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N17 has claimed responsibility for 23 killings since its first in 1975
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The brigadier was the last victim in November 17's 28-year campaign of terror.
A proclamation from the group at the time claimed Saunders was gunned down because of Britain's role in the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia in 1999.
The group is blamed for dozens of armed robberies, hundreds of bombings and 23 killings since 1975, including the death of Richard Welch, who was the CIA station chief in Athens.
Police have long said that the November 17 terrorist group was believed to be a small, close-knit group.
The group is named after the date of a student uprising in 1973 against the military junta then ruling Greece.
Greek police have been anxious to break the group ahead of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
