Two eyewitnesses have described what they saw just minutes before the deadly arson attack on Marfin Bank on May 5, 2010. They are journalist Ilias Provopoulos and Vassilis Hatziiakovou, who was at the time the manager of the “Ianos” bookstore. These two eyewitnesses, along with four other individuals whose names are mentioned in an anonymous email, have stated through their attorney that they are available to authorities, making them the key figures in the new investigation. Specifically, journalist and eyewitness Ilias Provopoulos explained in an interview with ANT1: “I recorded it as a journalist, aiming for this material to be useful in finding these people.” His testimony, along with that of Vassilis Hatziiakovou, as well as the photographs they submitted, form the core evidence of the new investigation.
Read also: Marfin: The contents of the infamous “anonymous” email that unlocked the case 16 years later — “I can’t bear to watch the killers go on living their lives”
Marfin case: What the eyewitnesses saw minutes before the deadly fire
The journalist went on to describe what unfolded at 12:58, just minutes before the deadly fire broke out, at the moment when clashes began in front of the Ianos bookstore. “At some point, a scene within the march caught my attention — some individuals who had come in from side streets. A group of 11 people formed, standing out from anything we had seen at marches up to that point,” said Mr. Provopoulos.
He and Hatziiakovou moved up to the bookstore’s mezzanine level. From there, the experienced journalist witnessed something he had never seen at similar demonstrations: a group of 5–6 individuals, all wearing black caps, coming down Stadiou Street from Edouardou Lo. Avenue, while a larger group wearing khaki caps was heading up Stadiou Street, as he told ANT1.
As the eyewitnesses describe, and as shown in the photographs, the two groups stopped and a coordination took place between them, led by a person wearing a black wool beanie.
The khaki-cap group met with the black-cap group. Within the khaki group was the first suspect — a tall man carrying a backpack — and next to him, a person wearing a red bandana over his face. Two meters away, from the black-cap group, a blonde 46-year-old woman could be identified.
“We watched a tall man smash the glass window”
Publisher and eyewitness Vassilis Hatziiakovou told ANT1: “They stopped at this very spot… and we noticed some coordination taking place, with one person acting as a coordinator. Then we saw a tall man smash the glass window, and another man with a canister of flammable material pour it in — and it immediately burst into flames.“
Immediately after the attack, Vassilis Hatziiakovou made a futile attempt to contain the fire using a fire extinguisher from the bookstore.
Provopoulos: “This material was handed to police from day one”
“This material was handed to the police from day one. I don’t know how we got to where we are today,” said Mr. Provopoulos.
Both eyewitnesses told ANT1 that they had submitted all of this as testimony during the first trial, in which the two defendants were acquitted, as the defendants claimed they were not the individuals the witnesses had seen that day. Today, both witnesses express hope that justice will finally be served and that those truly responsible will be held accountable.
The photographs handed over to authorities in 2010 resurfaced in 2026 as key evidence in the new investigation. According to the case file, they were used as a reference point for evaluating witness testimonies and contributed to the issuance of three arrest warrants.
The investigating magistrate has requested that the identity of the anonymous email sender be traced — a request also made by the two defendants.
