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US and UK angered over prison furlough for convicted terrorist assassin

The US government and the British ambassador to Athens did not hide its anger about the two-day leave granted to sentenced terrorist, Dimitris Koufodinas, by the Greek judicial system.

US Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt protested to the Greek government. The official Greek response was that the government has nothing to do with this as they are not allowed to interfere with the work of the Greek judiciary.

The official US announcement was made by the State Department spokeswoman Mrs. Nauert, who read it to journalists yesterday before everything else.

The statement is:

I ‘d like to start out with some news that has come out of Greece today. I ‘d like to say that we want to condemn the release of a convicted terrorist. His name is Dimitrios Koufodinas. He was released on a two-day furlough from a Greek prison, he is a convicted terrorist, he is responsible for killing 11 civilians, some British, US and also Turkish embassy staff, who worked for the United States obviously, UK and Turkey. They released him on a two-day furlough, they did that just three months ago as well. We fundamentally believe that convicted terrorists do not deserve a vacation from prison. Our embassy in Athens has conveyed our serious concerns about the decision to the Greek government.

Meanwhile in a Twitter post the British Ambassador to Greece on the occasion of the second furlough from prison for convicted terrorist hitman Dimitris Koufodinas expressed her dismay for the man that assassinated Brigadier Stephen Saunders the British attache to Athens in 2000. 

Specifically, while the prisoner was leaving Korydallos Prison, Kate Smith wrote on her personal Twitter account: "It is extremely depressing to see an unrepentant convicted terrorist exiting jail again.

We respect independent Greek justice, but once again, the memory of the victims of terrorism and the feelings of their families are brutally affected. "