The arrest of two suspects in connection with the May 2010 firebombing of a Marfin Bank branch in central Athens has revived hopes of justice 16 years after one of the deadliest episodes of Greece’s then budding economic crisis, as police investigators continue to pursue a third suspect believed to be living overseas.
Authorities said the arrests followed a year-long investigation conducted in the country and abroad. According to local media reports, investigators obtained previously unavailable digital material recorded by foreign journalists covering the May 5, 2010, street demonstration in Athens, while an anonymous email submitted to Greece’s organized crime unit prompted authorities to reopen the case.
The attack claimed the lives of three bank employees – the pregnant Angeliki Papathanasopoulou, Paraskevi Zoulia and Epameinondas Tsakalis – after petrol bombs were thrown into the Stadiou Street branch during mass anti-austerity protests against Greece’s first international bailout program.
Maria Karagianni, one of the employees rescued from the burning building and photographed calling for help from a balcony as smoke engulfed the bank, said the arrests had stirred conflicting emotions.
“The first thing I felt was distress,” she told Ta Nea, adding that previous attempts to solve the case had made her weary. “I also feel anger because the perpetrators have not been identified all these years.”
Karagianni said she found it difficult to believe that those responsible had remained unidentified despite extensive video coverage from central Athens that day. She also urged authorities not to allow the tragedy to become a political issue once again.
“If they are the real perpetrators, I want moral justice,” she said. “They should be tried and imprisoned. They knew we were inside. Our colleagues begged them not to throw fire onto the flammable liquid.”
She said the victims’ families and survivors continue to seek answers after more than a decade.
“What do you ask a murderer?” she said. “That question will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
The May 5, 2010 attack unfolded during one of the largest demonstrations in modern Greek history as Parliament debated the country’s first bailout agreement.
Around 25 to 30 employees were inside the Marfin branch when attackers hurled petrol bombs and flammable liquid at the building’s entrance. Three employees died from smoke inhalation while others escaped by climbing onto narrow balconies as firefighters struggled to reach the scene through violent street clashes.
In 2013, bank executives were convicted of negligent homicide over inadequate fire safety measures.
More recently, Greece’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial concerning the now merged bank’s civil liability, ensuring that the Marfin tragedy has remained both a judicial and political point of reference in Greece’s public life while the search for those who carried out the fatal attack continued.
