On May 27, 1963, EDA MP Grigoris Lambrakis breathed his last.

Five days earlier, on May 22, 1963, he had been the target of a murderous attack by two far-right para-state militants in Thessaloniki.

Spyros Gotzamanis and Emmanouil Emmanouilidis, riding in a three-wheeled cargo vehicle, targeted Lambrakis, drove into him at speed, and, in addition, Emmanouilidis struck him on the head with an iron crowbar.

All of this took place under the indifferent gaze of police officers, on the sidelines of an event organized by the Peace Committee in which Lambrakis was participating.

The EDA MP and advocate of peace thus became a victim of deadly para-state violence.

“MP G. Lambrakis Severely Injured”  «ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ», 23.5.1963, Historical Archive «ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ» | «ΤΑ ΝΕΑ» .

TO VIMA, May 23, 1963, reported the first information, from which the intention of certain individuals to cause casualties emerged beyond any doubt:

“Groups of young men, evidently belonging to the extreme Right, who had gathered outside the hall, loudly jeered those arriving for the gathering, and some of them attacked Mr. Lambrakis, inflicting injuries upon him.

Before and After the Attack

Nevertheless, the EDA deputy entered the hall and delivered his speech, while the jeering continued outside. After the conclusion of the speech and during the departure of those who had attended the gathering, a new attack was launched against them, during which the EDA deputy from Kavala, G. Tsarouchas, was injured and fell to the ground covered in blood. An ambulance was then called, and the injured man was placed inside it, but the assembled youths of the extreme Right smashed the ambulance windows and attempted to strike the EDA deputy again.

The artisan D. Zoidis, aged 25, was injured more lightly. Half an hour later, while Deputy Lambrakis was walking with four other individuals toward the ‘Cosmopolit’ Hotel, a three-wheeled motorcycle vehicle ran into him and gravely injured him.

The injured man was taken to the hospital, where he remains unable to speak. Mr. Lambrakis has suffered an extremely serious cerebral concussion and possibly internal bleeding, and doctors fear for his life.

The driver of the three-wheeler was not immediately arrested. Left-wing circles speak of a staged accident, claiming that the vehicle had been maneuvering around the area beforehand and struck the deputy following instructions.

Police authorities are conducting investigations to locate the driver of the three-wheeler and identify those responsible for the disturbances. Late at night, the driver of the vehicle, 35-year-old transporter Spyros Gotzamanis, was arrested. He claimed that he had struck Deputy Lambrakis accidentally and that he did not know who he was.

It was also learned that a neurosurgeon had been summoned from Athens to perform surgery on the EDA deputy.”

On May 27, Grigoris Lambrakis succumbed to his injuries.

““The remains of MP Grigoris Lambrakis were conveyed and placed in state for public mourning and tribute.”” «ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ», 28.5.1963, Historical Archive «ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ» | «ΤΑ ΝΕΑ»

Papandreou Against Karamanlis

TO VIMA wrote on May 28, 1963:

“We draw the Government’s attention to indications of an attempt to obscure the entire affair surrounding the events in Thessaloniki, whether through the intimidation and surveillance of certain witnesses or through delays in the investigation so as to allow time for the perpetrators to be ‘guided’ regarding their testimonies and related matters.

Such an attempt would constitute an insolent challenge to Justice, and any success in that effort would amount to the complete destruction of every concept of State and Law—not to mention that it would ultimately produce the opposite result from that intended.”

«ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ», 25.5.1963, Historical Archive «ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ» | «ΤΑ ΝΕΑ»

The murder of Lambrakis shocked Greece and created a major political controversy between the governing ERE party and the opposition.

At a time when his relations with the royal palace were strained, Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, upon learning of the assassination attempt against Lambrakis, famously exclaimed:

“But who governs this country?”

For their part, Georgios Papandreou and the Centre Union accused Karamanlis of bearing moral responsibility for Lambrakis’s murder.

In his book Karamanlis, the Friend, Takis Lamprias includes the following statement by Karamanlis himself regarding the Lambrakis affair, Georgios Papandreou, and his son Andreas:

“They attempted to assassinate me morally, both within Greece and before international public opinion. They called me the moral instigator of Lambrakis’s murder—and I said at the time that for that statement Georgios Papandreou ought to be ashamed for the rest of his life.”

The Trial

In the final days of December 1966, only a few months before the Colonels’ Junta seized power and suspended the Constitution, the trial of this highly publicized case came to an end.

Before the verdict was announced, prosecutor Pavlos Dellaportas, convinced of the defendants’ guilt—not only that of the direct perpetrators but also of other individuals involved—addressed the jurors as follows:

“You must be careful, because you have a historic task to perform for your country and for justice.

Public opinion has already issued a guilty verdict against the accused, and your decision should be aligned with that verdict.

If it is different, public opinion will not be persuaded by your judgment.”

The two men who carried out the murder were convicted. The driver of the three-wheeler, Spyros Gotzamanis, was sentenced to eleven years in prison, while his passenger and accomplice Emmanouil Emmanouilidis received a sentence of eight and a half years.

Spyros Gotzamanis testifies before the investigating authorities beside the three-wheeled vehicle used in the assassination attack against Lambrakis.

The Jury’s Verdict

“The death of Deputy Grigoris Lambrakis resulted from negligence.”

This was the decision of the ten lay jurors of Thessaloniki after proceedings that lasted 88 days.

The jurors accepted all mitigating circumstances for Gotzamanis and Emmanouilidis, acquitted Giosmas and Kapelonis as well as the other senior officers of the Gendarmerie. Their decision, on most points, was unanimous.

Through their verdict, the jurors accepted that:

There were no moral instigators.
Gotzamanis and Emmanouilidis were not motivated by base motives.
The police officers did not intentionally violate their duties.

The verdict was issued 43 months after the fatal injury of G. Lambrakis.”

Commenting on the decision, prosecutor Dellaportas stated, among other things:

“I had recommended that the decision be brilliant and dazzling in its clarity. I must observe that in certain respects it reminds me of the light of a nearly exhausted battery.

What particularly astonishes me is that they recognized as a mitigating circumstance for Gotzamanis and Emmanouilidis that they were not driven by base motives.

At the very least, that mitigating circumstance is somewhat offensive. They could have recognized any other one.”

Shortly after the dictatorship was imposed, Gotzamanis and Emmanouilidis were granted amnesty by the military regime and released from prison.

«ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ», 24.5.1963, Historical Archive «ΤΟ ΒΗΜΑ» | «ΤΑ ΝΕΑ»