Authorities are examining the possible involvement of additional suspects in the May 2010 Marfin bank firebombing in Athens, according to television news reports over the weekend, as the investigation continues following the arrests of two men and the issuance of an arrest warrant for a 46-year-old woman living in Britain.
The woman, who has denied any involvement, told Greece’s Mega TV through her lawyer that she intends to return voluntarily to Greece to appear before judicial authorities.
According to television news reports, investigators are also examining three additional individuals for possible links to the attack. They include an “anti-establishment/anti-state” activist who was among the original suspects in the months following the attack but was not charged, and another militant later arrested in connection with a separate group and a series of bomb attacks in central Athens.
Greek media reported that the latter was acquainted with one of the two men arrested on Friday and is being examined for possible participation in the group that carried out the firebombing.
The latest developments stem from a renewed investigation that authorities reportedly reopened after receiving an anonymous email naming two 42-year-old men and the 46-year-old woman as alleged participants in the attack. The inquiry subsequently combined that information with evidence gathered during a 2020 counterterrorism investigation into explosives discovered in a storage facility in the central Athens district of Koukaki.
According to news reports, authorities re-examined digital photographs and videos seized during the 2020 investigation using forensic software, biometric analysis and artificial intelligence tools to compare facial features, body proportions and characteristics with photographic material from the day of the Marfin attack.
Local media also reported that a distinctive backpack bearing three painted stars, visible in both holiday photographs taken in 2009 and images from the scene, became one of the key pieces of evidence used in the analysis.
Television reports further said investigators now believe the attack was carried out by an organized group of about 12 people with assigned roles rather than by a spontaneous group of protestors. According to those reports, five individuals allegedly participated directly in the assault, with one breaking the bank’s front window using a sledgehammer, another throwing the “Molotov cocktail” firebomb inside the building and another directing the group. Those details have not been officially released by authorities.
The two arrested men have been charged with multiple counts of intentional homicide in connection with the deaths of three Marfin employees: 32-year-old pregnant bank teller Angeliki Papathanasopoulou, 36-year-old Epaminondas Tsakalis and 35-year-old Paraskevi Zoulia, who died from smoke inhalation after becoming trapped inside the burning building.
The case remained unsolved for 16 years despite repeated investigations.
Over the past week, the arrests have marked the first major breakthrough in one of modern Greece’s most politically sensitive criminal cases.
According to Ta Nea, investigators linked the newly analyzed digital evidence with previously collected material after reopening the case, while prosecutors continue to assess the evidence underpinning the charges. The woman sought under an arrest warrant has publicly maintained her innocence and said she will present herself before Greek authorities upon her return from Britain.
