Alexandros Giotopoulos, the 82-year-old convicted leader of Greece's November 17 terrorist organization, has been conditionally released from Korydallos high-security prison after 24 years -overriding a state prosecutor's recommendation against release- as an appeals court ruled his deteriorating health warranted early freedom despite a sentence of 17 consecutive life terms.
The Piraeus Court of Appeals granted Mr. Giotopoulos's fifth petition for release, filed in October 2025.
Under terms of his release, he is barred from leaving Greece, must report monthly to a local police station and is confined to his permanent residence in the Vyronas district of Athens.
November 17 was one of Europe's most deadly far-left terror groups, operating clandestinely for 27 years before being dismantled in 2002.
Under Mr. Giotopoulos's leadership, the group carried out 23 killings between 1975 and 2000, targeting a CIA station chief, a British defense attaché and numerous Greek politicians and businessmen.
He was arrested on the island of Lipsi in July 2002 and sentenced to 17 life terms plus 25 years.
Mr. Giotopoulos has consistently maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment and has been granted periodic temporary furloughs since 2022.
His principal co-defendant, Dimitris Koufontinas — identified as the group's chief hitman — remains incarcerated and has been denied similar release, a disparity that has drawn scrutiny from victims' families and political opponents of the decision.