Greek Junta Trials

The Greek Junta Trials ( _el. Οι Δίκες της Χούντας translated as: The Τrials of the Junta) were the trials involving members of the military junta which ruled Greece from 21 April 1967 to 23 July 1974. These trials involved the instigators of the coup as well as other junta members of various ranks who took part in the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and in the torture of citizens.

The military coup leaders were formally arrested during the "metapolitefsi" period that followed the junta, and in early August 1975 the government of Konstantinos Karamanlis brought charges of high treason and mutiny against Georgios Papadopoulos and other co-conspirators. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917678,00.html The Colonels on Trial] Time Magazine Retrieved 15 August 2008 Quote: "Fearful of both right-wing plots to spring the defendants from prison and left-wing assassination attempts, the democratic government of Premier Constantine Caramanlis staged an impressive show of military strength at a trial that had been described as "Greece's Nuremberg."" and "Exasperated, the president of the court, Yiannis Deyannis, who was appointed a high court judge under the junta, yelled, "Let all those who wish to leave—leave!"" also: "Loyal Officials. Kanellopoulos, a highly respected leader of the National Radical Union, told how he had been arrested at machine-gun point by junta soldiers and taken to the monarch in 1967. He urged the King, who was also commander in chief of the armed forces, to order loyal officers to crush the colonels' rebellion. The weak and inexperienced Constantine, then 27, refused, fearing bloodshed. Instead, he swore the colonels into office."] The mass trial, described as "Greece's Nuremberg" and known as "The Trial of the Instigators", was staged at the Korydallos Prison amidst heavy security. The principal leaders of the 1967 coup, Georgios Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos and Nikolaos Makarezos, were sentenced to death for high treason, following the trial. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947162,00.html Answering to History] Time magazine Retrieved 18 August 2008 Quote: "Slavishly deferential, Papadopoulos' 19 co-defendants in the trial at Korydallos Prison on the outskirts of Athens referred to him as "Mr. President." When talking to reporters, the squat, jaunty Papadopoulos assured them that he would not be in jail for long. Disdainfully refusing to enter a plea in his defense, he crowed, "I shall answer only to history and the Greek people." To which Court President Ioannis Deyannis replied, his small sharp features pinched in anger, "Do you think history is absent from this courtroom?""] Shortly after the sentences were pronounced, they were commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government. The trial of the instigators was followed by a second trial which investigated the events surrounding the Athens Polytechnic uprising known as "The Trial of the Polytechnic" and, finally, a series of trials involving incidents of torture known in Greece as "The Trials of the Torturers". [ [http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=30&ct=19&artid=18751&enthDate=21042007 Book: The Trials of the Junta, 12 Volumes] Pericles Rodakis (publisher), The Trials of the Junta: A: The Trial of the Instigators, B: The Trial of the Polytechnic, C: The Trials of the Torturers (Περικλής Ροδάκης (εκδ.), Οι Δίκες της Χούντας: Α: Η Δίκη των Πρωταιτίων, Β: Η Δίκη του Πολυτεχνείου, Γ: Οι Δίκες των Βασανιστών, 12 τόμοι, Αθήνα 1975-1976)]

Historical background

After the fall of the junta in July 1974, as the country entered the period of the "metapolitefsi" and before the legislative elections in November of the same year, the transitional government headed by Konstantinos Karamanlis came under growing criticism from the opposition, including Georgios Mavros, the leader of the Center Union-New Forces (the main opposition party at the time), about being too lenient to the members of the recently deposed military junta.

Mavros had demanded the arrest of the junta principals as a condition for cleaning up the political life of the country. At the time he declared that as soon as the Parliament was convened after the 1974 elections, he would propose legislation to annul any automatic immunity laws which the junta might have enacted to protect its members.

The newspapers further demanded an investigation into the role of Brigadier Ioannides during the crushing of the Polytechnic uprising, which the press called a "massacre". Ioannides was the shadowy leader of the junta's final stage who had been described as the "invisible dictator" in the press.

Karamanlis' government responded to these demands and ordered the junta principals Georgios Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos, Nikolaos Makarezos, Ioannis Ladas and Michael Roufogalis arrested.

In addition, Georgios Papadopoulos, Dimitrios Ioannides, Michael Roufogalis, Nikolaos Dertilis, Vassilios Bouklakos and Elias Tsiaouris or Tsapouris (also Tsiaparas), who were also responsible of the Polytechnic events were prohibited from leaving the country, as rumours were circulating that they were planning to escape abroad.

On 24 October 1974, Georgios Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos, Nikolaos Makarezos, Ioannis Ladas and Michael Roufogalis were arrested and charged with conspiring again. [http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=12737&m=A71&aa=1 The disappearance of Ioannides] To Vima Retrieved 22 August 2008 (In Greek)
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php%3Fe%3DB%26f%3D12737%26m%3DA71%26aa%3D1&sa=X&oi Translation by Google] ] Subsequently they were sent to the island of Kea.

Ioannides, was not arrested at that time, with the official explanation that he did not take part in the conspiracy of the Papadopoulos group. However the newspapers, such as "To Vima", alleged, citing reliable sources, that Ioannides had disappeared and could not be found.

Immediately after the group of five was exiled to Kea, the opposition demanded to know the details of the actions of Papadopoulos and his co-conspirators prior to their arrest, while the government denied rumours of pro-junta manoeuvres among the military.

During his stay in Kea, Papadopoulos seemed confident that he and the members of his junta would be granted amnesty and they would eventually run for office and get elected. However, following a three month stay on the island, in February 1975, Papadopoulos and the other four junta principals were transported by a torpedo boat to the port of Piraeus on their way to Korydallos prison. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946464-1,00.html Revival and Revenge] Time magazine Retrieved 15 August 2008] Ioannides, having been arrested on 14 January 1975, was already at the jail when Papadopoulos and his cohorts arrived there. [http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_100049_22/07/2008_278496 Ioannides application] ]

Trial of the instigators of the 21 April 1967 coup

On 28 July 1975 the trial of the instigators of the coup ( _el. Η Δίκη των Πρωταιτίων) commenced with Ioannis Deyannis as the presiding judge; Deyannis had been appointed to the high court of "Areios Pagos" during the junta years. The mandate of the trial was to examine the events surrounding the 21 April 1967 coup, for which Papadopoulos and over twenty other co-defendants were charged with acts of high treason and mutiny. Security surrounding the trial was heavy: one thousand soldiers armed with submachine guns were guarding the jail's perimeter, and the roads leading to the jail were patrolled by tanks.

Despite these developments, Papadopoulos expressed his confidence to reporters that he would not remain incarcerated for long. He also assumed full responsibility for the April coup but refused to defend himself. Following Papadopoulos' lead, Stylianos Pattakos, Nikolaos Makarezos and other junta members announced that they would not participate in the trial. Dimitrios Ioannides announced that the trial was "unfortunately not interesting".

The defence announced that the reason their clients were not participating was that the Karamanlis government had prejudiced the outcome of the trial by declaring the 1967 coup a criminal offense. The lawyers of sixteen of the defendants walked out of the courtroom on the first day of the proceedings, declaring that they could not carry out their duties under a climate of terror and violence, to which the presiding judge Ioannis Deyannis replied: "Let all those who wish to leave—leave!".

Although there was an agreement between the defendants that they would keep silent during the trial and would not issue any statements, Papadopoulos broke his silence and declared to the Court that: "I am the leader of the Revolution and I am responsible for everything". [http://www.tovima.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=13007&m=A42&aa=2 The Rise of Democracy] To vima online Η ανατολή της Δημοκρατίας ΧΡ. Ζ. ΚΑΡΑΝΙΚΑΣ Chr. Zakanikas Quote:"Νέα «παρασπονδία» Παπαδόπουλου φοβούνται οι δεκαέξι υπόλοιπες «κεφαλές» της χούντας, «που συναποφάσισαν μαζί του την τακτική της σιωπής, καθώς και οι συνήγοροί τους, οι οποίοι απεχώρησαν από το δικαστήριο την πρώτη ημέρα της διαδικασίας... Η πρώτη παρασπονδία του Παπαδόπουλου έγινε προχθές, όταν σηκώθηκε ξαφνικά και άρχισε να εκφωνή τη γνωστή δήλωσή του, ότι "αυτός είναι ο αρχηγός της επαναστάσεως και υπεύθυνος για όλα". Ο αιφνιδιασμός αυτός βρήκε απροετοίμαστους ακόμα και τον Παττακό και τον Μακαρέζο οι οποίοι πίστευαν ότι είχαν συμφωνήσει στο "βουβό θέατρο"... Στη σύσκεψη που είχε γίνει στον Κορυδαλλό πριν από την έναρξη της δίκης, οι περισσότεροι προσπάθησαν να πείσουν τον Παπαδόπουλο ότι δεν έχουν να κερδίσουν τίποτα αν επιτεθούν εναντίον των μαρτύρων κατηγορίας: "Στον στρατό δεν έχουμε πλέον ανθρώπους, στον λαό δεν έχουμε απήχηση. Τι θα κερδίσουμε με την πολιτικοποίηση της δίκης; " ήταν το επιχείρημά τους»." (In Greek)
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.tovima.gr/print_article.php%3Fe%3DB%26f%3D13007%26m%3DA42%26aa%3D2&sa=X&oi Translation by Google] ] Pattakos, Makarezos and the rest of the junta members were surprised to hear Papadopoulos' statement because they believed they had an agreement that they would not politicize the trial based on their belief that they had nothing to gain. In their view their support among the people and in the army was non-existent.

The charge of mutiny was contested because even though the colonels had in fact seized power illegally, they did so with the approval of their superior officer Lieutenant General Gregorios Spandidakis, who even joined the coup. Further Karamanlis himself, by accepting the invitation of junta-appointed President Phaedon Gizikis to return to Greece, conferred a measure of legitimacy to the junta. In addition it was Gizikis who swore-in Karamanlis as Prime Minister.

During the trial, Spandidakis, Zoitakis and Stamatelopoulos differentiated their position from that of the other junta members. This divergence from the common defence line led Papadopoulos to strongly chastise one of his defence lawyers for trying to question one of Zoitakis' witnesses. He is reported as exclaiming: "He is not one of our witnesses. Do not ask him [any questions] ". [ [http://www.tovima.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=13021&m=A44&aa=1 To Vima online] Christos Karanikas Quote: "Οι μάρτυρες του Ζωιτάκη οργίζουν τον Παπαδόπουλο στη δίκη των πρωταιτίων του πραξικοπήματος της 21ης Απριλίου που γίνεται στο Πενταμελές Εφετείο, στις Γυναικείες Φυλακές του Κορυδαλλού: «Το Σάββατο, κατά πάσαν πιθανότητα, θα αρχίσουν να απολογούνται οι πρωταίτιοι... Είναι βέβαιον ότι θα απολογηθούν οι κατηγορούμενοι που έχουν "διαχωρίσει" τη θέση τους, δηλαδή οι Σπαντιδάκης, Ζωιτάκης και Σταματελόπουλος. Βέβαιον επίσης είναι ότι θα απολογηθούν και οι Γκαντώνας και Καραμπέρης που μετέχουν στη διαδικασία... Χθες εξετάσθηκαν οι μάρτυρες υπερασπίσεως του Ζωιτάκη, οι οποίοι προκάλεσαν την έντονη αντίδραση του Γ. Παπαδόπουλου. Ετσι, όταν ο διωρισμένος συνήγορός τους άρχισε να θέτη ερωτήσεις, ο Παπαδόπουλος τον διέκοψε εκνευρισμένος: "Δεν είναι δικός μας μάρτυς. Μην τον ρωτάς" του είπε»."
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php%3Fe%3DB%26f%3D13021%26m%3DA44%26aa%3D1&sa=X&oi Translation by Google] Quote: "Witnesses of Zoitaki orgizoun Papadopoulos in the trial of protaition the coup of April 21 made in Pentameles Court of Appeal, in the women's prison of Korydallou: «Saturday, likely will start the protaitioi apologize ... It is clear that we will apologise defendants who have "split" their position, namely Spantidakis, Zoitakis and Stamatelopoulos. Vevaion also is that we apologise and Gkantonas and Karamperis involved in the process ... Yesterday examined witnesses defended the Zoitaki, which caused intense reaction C. Papadopoulos. So when the diorismenos synigoros begun to theti questions, Papadopoulos stopped the eknefrismenos: "It is not our witness. Do not the rotas" said »."]

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, the last legitimate Prime Minister of Greece prior to the coup, acting as witness for the prosecution, testified how he was arrested by machine-gun toting soldiers and transported to the palace to meet King Constantine. He added that during the meeting he urged the king to use his status as commander-in-chief of the Greek military to order loyal officers to crush the coup. He stated that Constantine refused to do so because he feared bloodshed.

Kanellopoulos also stated at the trial that, against his advice, King Constantine swore-in the government of the colonels, an action which had helped legitimise their rule. Kanellopoulos' testimony had the effect of undermining the charge of mutiny. Kanellopoulos, during his testimony, also accepted his responsibility "before history" for not preempting the coup. He testified that there was no indication at all that the colonels were plotting "behind the backs" of the highest echelons of the army leadership. [http://www.rwf.gr/interviews_senaria-new.php?id=189&interview=1&interview_id=698 Reportage without frontiers] The unknown resistance against the dictatorship Quote: "Έναντι της ιστορίας είμαι υπόλογος εγώ, γιατί ως πρωθυπουργός της χώρας δεν κατόρθωσα να προλάβω αυτό το οποίο έγινε. Και δεν κατόρθωσα να το προλάβω διότι δεν υπήρξε καμία ένδειξη ότι πίσω από τις πλάτες της ανωτάτης στρατιωτικής ιεραρχίας, μερικοί συνταγματάρχες σχεδίαζαν ένα πραξικόπημα"
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.rwf.gr/interviews_senaria-new.php%3Fid%3D189%26interview%3D1%26interview_id%3D698&sa=X&o Translation by Google] Quote: "Given the history I am accountable, because as prime minister of the country not managed to catch what it was. And we managed to catch because there was no indication that behind the backs of higher military hierarchy, some colonels were planning a coup »."]

Papadopoulos refused to testify and only declared: "I shall answer only to history and to the Greek people"; to which presiding justice Deyannis retorted: "Do you think history is absent from this courtroom?" Papadopoulos did not respond.

The question of the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the coup, a widely-held belief in Greece, was not answered at the trial. Deyannis forbade all discussion on the subject with the remark that the trial was only confined to discovering the facts involved on the day the coup occurred. The only testimony about CIA involvement was given by Andreas Papandreou, who insisted that the colonels worked closely with the CIA.

Verdict

The trial of the instigators ended on 23 August 1975. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947162,00.html Answering to History] Time magazine Retrieved 15 August 2008] Papadopoulos, Nikolaos Makarezos and Stylianos Pattakos were sentenced to death by firing squad, while Dimitrios loannides received a life sentence. Seven others were sentenced to terms ranging from five to 20 years and two were acquitted.

This is the detailed table of the main sentences: [ [http://www.athensinfoguide.com/history/t9-98lastdecades.htm History of Athens] retrieved 16 August 2008]

The EAT/ESA torture trials were acknowledged by Amnesty International as the first trials internationally, after the Nuremberg Trials, to involve prosecution of torture. [http://books.google.com/books?id=X-66WuGiGsEC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=Amnesty+International+EAT+ESA&source=web&ots=suW8_xklG_&sig=II8tWuSqFP9hWXiw8xoZsdOlVvU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA29,M1 The Psychological Origins of Institutionalized Torture] By Mika Haritos-Fatouros Published by Routledge, 2003 ISBN 0415282764, ISBN 9780415282765 270 pages pp. 28-29, Quote: "Under the 1967-1874 military dictatorship in Greece, torture had two primary functions: the gathering of information to use against its opponents, and the intimidation of dissidents and anyone who might contemplate becoming a dissident. The military police, ESA, were responsible for most of the torture. Their headquarters and major center of interrogation in Athens was called EAT/ESA a place deliberately created to "make all Greece tremble"and "In 1975 shortly after the fall of the military regime, two trials of EAT/ESA soldiers and conscript soldiers were held in Athens. Those trials offered the first, full public disclosure of the effect of the culture of torture on both the victims and the victimizers. As two of only a very few public trials of torturers in human history, these are known as the Criminals' Trials (Amnesty International (1977b)" also [http://books.google.com/books?id=X-66WuGiGsEC&pg=PA29&dq=wholesale+destruction+of+documents+Fatouros&sig=ACfU3U0G3_v4kNycV2TT9PV8ePvwHotnlg Wholesale destruction of records page 29] and [http://books.google.com/books?id=X-66WuGiGsEC&pg=PA30&dq=Mysteriously,+these+documents+vanished+from+the+courthouse&sig=ACfU3U2VoEPXRDq9WCuj4DY2ZXdY--zA7w Vanished documents page 30] and [http://books.google.com/books?id=X-66WuGiGsEC&pg=PA35&dq=dereliction+of+his+medical+responsibilities&sig=ACfU3U1EN6PWHe0CBK5rSS9eRGniG_2Bdw Dereliction of duty page 35] By Google Books] The EAT/ESA trials are also among the very few trials of torturers in human history and are referred to as the "Criminals' Trials" by Amnesty International. [http://books.google.com/books?id=1uQKblHDhVkC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=Amnesty+International+EAT+ESA&source=web&ots=dkXS76vwFq&sig=T8gVqsDgUPqNvq2YGRdwp-WL__s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result Repression and Repressive Violence:] Proceedings of the 3rd International Working Conference on Violence and Non-violent Action in Industrialized Societies By Marjo Hoefnagels Published by Transaction Publishers, 1977 ISBN 9026502567, 9789026502569 194 pages Page 23. Quote: "Note 13: I am grateful to Amnesty International for making available to me unpublished reports of the trials of fourteen officers and eighteen other ranks of the EAT/ESA that took place during August and September 1975. Because it is so rare for a country to bring torturers to trial, these reports constitute an invaluable resource. This document will hereinafter be referred to as "Transcript"" by Google books] Because it is rare for a country to prosecute torturers, these trials have become the subject of scientific research and papers have been published based on their court proceedings. [ [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119451854/abstract The Official Torturer:] A Learning Model for Obedience to the Authority of Violence Mika Haritos-Fatouros University of Thessaloniki Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume 18 Issue 13, Pages 1107 - 1120 Published Online: 31 Jul 2006 Journal Compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing, Inc. ABSTRACT The military training and selection procedures leading to the behavior of a torturer are discussed. The analysis is based on testimonies of army police servicemen at the first torturers' trial in Greece and on the interviews of ex-military policemen who served under the military dictatorship in Greece (1967–1974). It is concluded that, given the appropriate training condition, any individual is a potential torturer, and a model for obedience to the authority of violence is proposed.] [http://books.google.com/books?id=RSvAKgxEhuwC&pg=PA121&dq=EAT+ESA&sig=ACfU3U1ioPDSLnBTeSpGs4tFpdPslSt8Gg#PPA121,M1 The Phenomenon of Torture:] Readings and CommentaryBy William F. Schulz, Juan E. Mendez Contributor William F. Schulz, Juan E. Mendez Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007 ISBN 0812219821, ISBN 9780812219821 389 pages p. 121] [http://books.google.com/books?id=MRAvAAAAMAAJ&q=EAT+ESA&dq=EAT+ESA&pgis=1 Voices for Freedom:] An Amnesty International Anthology By Amnesty International, Amnesty International Published by Amnesty International Publications, 1986 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Mar 27, 2007 ISBN 0939994208, ISBN 9780939994205 208 pages]

Incarceration

In prison the junta principals addressed each other using their former titles such as "Minister" and "President" and showed great deference to Papadopoulos. However, Papadopoulos did not readily socialise and preferred to dine alone. The then-warden of Korydallos prison, Yannis Papathanassiou later published the book "Prison Diary: Korydallos 1975–79", where he described the amenities that the incarcerated junta members enjoyed, such as air conditioners, television sets and tennis courts. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921781,00.html Posh Prison] Time Magazine retrieved 15 August 2008 ]

Papathanassiou in his book describes how the Justice Ministry, under pressure from junta sympathisers, ordered these special arrangements for the prisoners. Papathanassiou also detailed his continuous vigilance trying to uncover escape plots. He also revealed how, through their lawyers, the prisoners got involved in the 1977 Greek legislative election supporting a right wing party. The regular population of the prison became so incensed about the preferential treatment given to the junta members that they rioted.

A plan to grant amnesty to the junta principals by the Konstantinos Mitsotakis government in 1990 was cancelled after protests from conservatives, socialists and communists alike. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DF163FF932A05751C1A966958260 Greece Cancels Plan to Pardon Ex-Junta Members] Time Magazine 31 December 1990 Retrieved 15 August 2008]

Papadopoulos and seven other members of the junta were housed in the maximum security A-block. Papadopoulos resided on the second floor of the compound along with the other members of his regime, while Ioannides resided on the ground floor.

Although Pattakos and Makarezos were let out of jail early due to health reasons, Papadopoulos never asked for clemency and remained in jail until his death. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990628/ai_n14226232/pg_2 Obituary: George Papadopoulos Independent, The (London), Jun 28, 1999 by Robert Shannan Peckham] Quote:"Unlike Makarezos and Pattakos, who were let out of prison early on grounds of ill-health, Papadopoulos never asked for clemency. At his trial he refused to plead or give evidence. As Seferis observed in March 1969, speaking out against the Colonels, in a statement broadcast by the BBC: "In dictatorial regimes the beginning may seem easy, yet tragedy waits at the end inescapably." Georgios Papadopoulos, soldier and politician: born Eleochorion, Greece 5 May 1919; Minister to Prime Minister's Office 1967, Prime Minister of Greece and Minister of Defence 1967-73, Minister of Education 1969-70, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1970-73, Regent 1972- 73, President 1973; married 1941 Nekee Vassiliadis (two children; marriage dissolved), 1970 Despina Gaspari (one daughter); died Athens 27 June 1999."] He died in hospital on 27 June 1999, after being transferred from Korydallos.

During his incarceration, Ioannides was reported as reading military books and books about the CIA. Because of his involvement in Papadopoulos' overthrow he was accused by the right wing that he betrayed the oath he gave in the summer of 1971 in front of Papadopoulos and another twenty junta members that he would recognise Papadopoulos as the leader of the "Revolution", i.e. the junta, and thus he was held responsible for the subsequent events, especially the regime's ultimate collapse. Consequently he did not come into contact with Papadopoulos and the other junta members around him and he spent most of his time alone in an isolated cell. Despite that, he sometimes arranged parties attended by members of the ESA military police, who resided on the third floor of the compound.

Ioannides and co-conspirator Nikos Dertilis never asked for a pardon. By the end of 2005, lawyers representing Ioannides and Dertilis petitioned the court for their release, but at the same time time Ioannides declared that he did not regret any of his actions. The Court of Justice in Piraeus declined his petition, based on his lack of remorse. Ioannides is currently a patient at the General State Hospital of Nikaia after being transferred from Korydallos due to illness. [http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_1_27/07/2008_279223 ekathimerini] Ioannides: The invisible dictator Retrieved 15 August 2008 (In Greek)
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_1_27/07/2008_279223&sa=X&oi English tranlation by Google] Quote: "είχε κάνει κάτι πολύ χειρότερο: είχε προδώσει τον όρκο που είχε δώσει το καλοκαίρι του 1971 ενώπιον του Παπαδόπουλου και ακόμη 20 πραξικοπηματιών, σύμφωνα με τον οποίο αρχηγός της «Επανάστασης», όπως έλεγαν τη χούντα, παρέμενε ο παλιός φίλος του. Αυτήν την προδοσία δεν μπόρεσαν πολλοί να του τη συγχωρήσουν ποτέ. Ακόμη και σήμερα ο Ιωαννίδης αναθεματίζεται από ακροδεξιά έντυπα για την απόφασή του «να ρίξει τον Παπαδόπουλο»." Translation: "He had done something much worse: he had betrayed the oath he gave in the summer of 1971 in front of Papadopoulos and twenty more coupists according to which the leader of the "Revolution", as they called the junta, remained his old friend. This betrayal many could not forgive him for. Even to this day Ioannides is cursed by right wing publications for his decision to overthrow Papadopoulos]

Stylianos Pattakos, even in jail, exhibited continued devotion to Papadopoulos. It is reported the he enjoyed hearing religious music supplied to him by a monk and in his prison memoirs he describes how he enjoyed tending a small garden and a little pond with 21 goldfish. The two things he mentions in his writings that he did not like was noise pollution at the jail, which he describes as "torture", and that the shape of the pond and faucet combination looked like a hammer and sickle.

In another segment of his prison memoirs, Pattakos also mentions an incident involving General Odysseas Aggelis (the Chief of the Armed Forces under much of the junta), and a jail guard. According to Pattakos the jail guard had his radio volume high and Aggelis pleaded with the guard to lower it. The guard not only did not comply but raised the volume higher. Aggelis then asked Pattakos to intervene on his behalf and ask the "noble jail guard" again.

On 23 March 1987 Aggelis committed suicide in his cell, at the age of 75. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEED6173DF930A15750C0A961948260 New York Times] Leading Greek Junta Member Is Found Hanged in His Cell 23 March 1987 Retrieved 18 August 2008] Pattakos was released from jail in September 1990 due to "irreparable damage to his health". [http://www.iospress.gr/ios1996/ios19961117a.htm The old men of the dictatorship] from Ios Press (Eleftherotypia) Quote: "Το μόνο που τον ενοχλούσε ήταν ότι "το σχήμα της λιμνούλας είναι ένα δρεπάνι, με σφυρί την βρύσιν, επί του βάθρου της"
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.iospress.gr/ios1996/ios19961117a.htm&sa=X&oi Translation by Google] Quote: ""Εις το βόρειον τμήμα υπάρχει τεχνητή λιμνούλα μικρού μεγέθους, με βρύσιν και έγχρωμα μικρά ψαράκια, 21 τον αριθμόν", γράφει ο Στυλιανός Παττακός, ο οποίος έχει αποφυλακιστεί με "ανήκεστο βλάβη" από τον Σεπτέμβριο του 1990. "In the voreion section is small artificial pond, with vrysin and coloured smaller fish, 21 the number", writes Stylianos Pattakos, who has been released with "irreversible impact" since September 1990." and "The only "torture", the noise pollution. "Ο στρατηγός Αγγελής με παρεκάλεσε μίαν ημέραν να επέμβω εις τον "ευγενή" δεσμοφύλακα, να κατεβάση τον τόνο του θορυβούντος ραδιοφώνου του. Τον είχε παρακαλέσει ο ίδιος, αλλά όχι μόνον δεν συνήνεσεν, αλλά και αντέδρασε βαρβαρικά και τον τόνον του ραδιοφώνου εδυνάμωσεν!" "General Angelis with parekalese to a day to intrude in the" noble "desmofylaka, katevasi the tone of thoryvountos radio. Ton had asked himself, but not only syninesen, but also reacted varvarika and tonon radio edynamosen!" Κατά τα άλλα, "εφυτεύσαμεν όχι μόνον οπωροφόρα, αλλά και καλλωπιστικά. Είναι πολύ ωραία η γεωργική απασχόλησις αυτή, διά τέρψιν εκτελουμένη.""]

Dertilis is the last remaining junta member currently in jail.

Legacy

The successful prosecution of the junta and the heavy sentences imposed on the junta principals sent a message to potential conspirators within the army ranks that the era of immunity from constitutional transgressions by the military was irreversibly over. [http://www.eliamep.gr/eliamep/content/home/media/opinions/latest_opinions/greek_american_relations_1974_1999/el/ Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy] Quote: "Οι δίκες των πρωταιτίων της χούντας με αυστηρότατες ποινές (ισόβια δεσμά) πέρασαν το μήνυμα στις ένοπλες δυνάμεις ότι η περίοδος της ατιμωρησίας των αντισυνταγματικών παρεμβάσεων του στρατού στην πολιτική είχε περάσει ανεπιστρεπτί."
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.eliamep.gr/eliamep/content/home/media/opinions/latest_opinions/greek_american_relations_1974_1999/el/&sa=X&oi Google Translation] : "The trials of the junta protaition with severe penalties (life imprisonment) passed the message to the armed forces that the period of impunity of anti-interference of the army in politics had gone irretrievably."]

Media

*" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255935/ The Trial of the Junta from IMDB] " film. Directed by T. Theodosopoulos, produced by Maggos Theodosopoulos, Music by G. Yiannoulatos and Songs by Alkestis Protopsalti.
*"Prison Diary: Korydallos 1975-79" book. Yannis Papathanassiou
*"The Trial", book. Ioannis Deyannis. Gnosi publications 1990. [ [http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=113,dt=03.06.2006,id=13566628 Eleftherotypia] Article on Ioannis Deyannis the judge and author
[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c%3D113,dt%3D03.06.2006,id%3D13566628&sa=X&oi Translation by Google] ]
*" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255937/ Diki ton vasaniston: EAT/ESA 1967-74, I (1982) (Trial of the torturers on IMDB)] "
*" [http://www.tanea.gr/default.asp?pid=30&ct=19&artid=18751&enthDate=21042007 Book: The Trials of the Junta, 12 Volumes] (Pericles Rodakis (publisher), The Trials of the Junta: A: The Trial of the Instigators, B: The Trial of the Polytechnic, C: The Trials of the Torturers) [Περικλής Ροδάκης (εκδ.), Οι Δίκες της Χούντας: Α: Η Δίκη των Πρωταιτίων, Β: Η Δίκη του Πολυτεχνείου, Γ: Οι Δίκες των Βασανιστών, 12 τόμοι, Αθήνα 1975-1976] "

References