Greek terror trial delay feared

Heather Saunders urged lawyers to rethink the strike

Lawyers in Greece are staging a 48-hour strike which threatens to delay a key trial of left-wing militant suspects.

Nineteen alleged members of Greek extremist group November 17 are accused of 23 murders, including that of British attache Stephen Saunders.

Under Greek law, the defendants can be held in jail for 18 months, and may be bailed if the trial runs into January.

Mr Saunders' wife, Heather, has urged the lawyers to rethink their industrial action over pension rights.

Missing millions

Her husband became the last alleged victim of the group when he was gunned down on an Athens motorway on his way to work on 8 June 2000.

Mrs Saunders said she hoped lawyers would withdraw from the strike action.

Given the nature of the case I would have thought the lawyers involved could easily have said 'we support all the strike action but this is a very important case' Heather Saunders

"Given the nature of the case I would have thought the lawyers involved could easily have said 'we support all the strike action but this is a very important case, not only for the victims whose families have suffered all these years but also to Greece and we need to stick by the case we will sign a piece of paper saying we support it but under the circumstances we are not walking out'."

The lawyers say that funds from taxes has not been paid into their pension fund which means it could run out completely if it is not done within the next five years.

This is causing chaos in the legal system, not just the November 17 trial.

General Secretary of the Athens Bar Association, Dimitrios Vivasos, said: "Since 1998 the government has not paid any money into our pension fund. They should have paid 60m euros a year so now they owe us 360m euros but there's no immediate solution in sight."