Counterterrorism investigators are intensifying their inquiry into the fatal July 1 firebombing in Thessaloniki that claimed the life of Vagia Nestora, with forensic experts examining a mobile phone allegedly discarded by one of the main suspects during his arrest in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.
According to public broadcaster ERT, the 29-year-old suspect threw his mobile phone from the window of the apartment where he was arrested. The device was recovered intact and has been sent to police forensic laboratories, where investigators hope it will provide crucial evidence about the planning of the attack and help identify the broader network allegedly involved.
Authorities believe the phone could shed light on the fatal attack outside the home of New Democracy parliamentary candidate Afroditi Nestora, in which her mother, Vagia Nestora, later died from injuries sustained in the blaze.
Police say the 29-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman arrested in Crete are both known to law enforcement and are believed to have links to the domestic anti-authoritarian / anti-state movement.
A third suspect, aged 24, is accused of providing the apartment that investigators believe served as a safe house for the two principal suspects before and after the attack. He has denied knowing either the 29-year-old man or the 26-year-old woman, claiming he had handed the apartment keys to another couple.
According to the investigation, the two principal suspects left the apartment shortly after 4 a.m. on the day of the attack with their faces concealed and are believed to have spent several days studying the route beforehand, selecting streets with the fewest surveillance cameras.
Investigators believe the pair fled the scene on a scooter after placing the improvised gas-canister incendiary device. According to ERT, they removed their face coverings shortly before reaching the apartment where they were hiding, allowing security cameras to capture clear images of their faces.
Counterterrorism investigators also believe the coordinated firebomb attacks carried out that morning were conducted by members of the same extremist group operating in two separate teams.
While the three people arrested so far are linked to the fatal attack on the Nestora residence, investigators believe three additional, as yet unidentified, individuals participated in the separate attacks targeting the homes of former New Democracy lawmaker Savvas Anastasiadis and Thessaloniki party official Zisis Ioakeimovits.
According to reports this week, counterterrorism police arrested the three suspects in coordinated operations in Thessaloniki and Crete after reconstructing the movements of the alleged perpetrators through surveillance footage and other evidence.
Investigators believe the man and woman scouted the Nestora residence in the days before the attack before taking refuge in the apartment allegedly provided by the third suspect. Authorities have said the fatal attack was carried out by a different operational cell from the one responsible for the other two coordinated firebombings and continue to investigate whether additional suspects were involved.
