Greek police arrest 2 people over 2010 fatal arson attack on Athens bank

FILE- Bank employees trapped by a fire stand on a balcony at a Marfin Egnatia Bank branch during an anti-government protest in central Athens, Wednesday, May 5, 2010, where three bank employees died after the branch was firebombed during demonstrations against austerity measures at the start of Greece's financial crisis. (AP Photo/Iakovos Hatzistavrou, File)

ATHENS, Greece — Greek police arrested two people Friday in connection with a 2010 firebomb attack in which three people trapped in a burning bank died while some in a crowd outside shouted for them to be left to burn.

The Marfin bank employees — one man and two women, one of whom was pregnant — were trapped after protesters threw firebombs at the building during a demonstration by tens of thousands of people participating in a general strike against new austerity measures imposed by the government.

The arrests are the first of anyone accused of carrying out the firebombing since an initial suspect was acquitted of all charges. Three bank officials were convicted in 2013 of failing to take adequate safety measures inside the bank branch.

“Our democracy is strong and always wins in the end. It does not win vengefully. Its victories have to do with vindication and the administration of justice,” Michalis Chrysochoidis, Greece’s Minister for Citizen Protection, said in a statement.

“There cannot be a crime, the taking of a life, without the administration of justice. There cannot be democracy without the administration of justice,” he added.

Chrysochoidis also referred to the separate arrests Friday of three people in connection with a series of bomb attacks targeting members of the country’s governing conservative New Democracy party on July 1 which killed one person and injured another four.

The arson attack on the Marfin bank on May 5, 2010, came in the early stages of Greece’s nearly decade-long financial crisis, which in which harsh austerity measures, including deep pension and wage cuts, were imposed on Greeks in return for three successive international bailouts.

The bank branch was on the route of a mass demonstration called during a general strike to protest austerity measures imposed for the country’s first bailout. The protest turned violent, with some hurling Molotov cocktails into the bank.

The fire spread quickly, trapping employees inside. When they made it out onto a small balcony, choking from the smoke, some in the crowd below shouted for them to be left to burn because they were working during a general strike. Firefighters were significantly delayed in reaching the site because of the large crowd.

Greek authorities reopened the inquiry into the deaths in 2020.

Greece’s financial crisis wiped out a quarter of the country’s economy, plunging it into a depression that saw poverty spiral and unemployment skyrocket to around 27%. The country’s economy has since gradually recovered, but the crisis left a deep mark on Greek society.

The Associated Press