He was just 16 years old when, according to the case files of the Extortion Crimes Unit (DAOE), he agreed to take a hand grenade and throw it inside a café at Plateia Amerikis. Today, at 17, he is among those charged in connection with a criminal organization that, according to Greek Police (ELAS), received orders from incarcerated members and used young men to carry out attacks in central Athens — primarily through the network of a 49-year-old Albanian career criminal, long referred to in underworld circles as the “prison mafia boss.”
The account documented in the case files sheds light on what may be one of the most disturbing aspects of this investigation: how a minor allegedly entered the circle of hired attackers, lured in primarily by the promise of money. According to the file, a young Georgian known by the nickname “Bitzo” knew the 17-year-old was struggling financially. On the afternoon of September 7th, he allegedly approached the teen and proposed that he go to a specific café at Plateia Amerikis later that evening and throw a hand grenade inside. The reward would be a cash payment.
The meeting before the attack
In the early morning hours of September 8th, the minor met with “Bitzo” and three other young men — all named in the case file — in the area of Agios Pavlos. There, according to the file, he informed an 18-year-old friend of his about the plan and asked him to come along. At the same time, he was allegedly aware that “Bitzo” and a 19-year-old known as “ENO” were heading to a different venue to carry out a similar attack. Indeed, just minutes before the strike at Plateia Amerikis, a hand grenade had already exploded at a café on Acharnon Street. The two attacks occurred approximately half an hour apart.
Before setting out, the minor changed part of his clothing. The hand grenade, according to the case file, was not handed to him directly. He retrieved it from beneath a flowerpot in the area, while a surgical mask and gloves — intended to conceal his face and hands — had been left for him at a table at a nearby establishment. He and the 18-year-old then boarded a taxi and headed toward the Plateia Amerikis area.
Hand grenade in hand
The 17-year-old continued on foot alone toward the target café. When he arrived, people were still outside. This did not deter him. According to the case file, he pulled the pin on the grenade and used it to threaten bystanders outside the café, forcing them to move away. He then kicked open the door and hurled the grenade inside. The explosion caused significant property damage but no injuries. The minor immediately fled on foot to where the 18-year-old was waiting. Changing his appearance was, according to investigators, part of the escape plan. Upon returning to the square where his accomplice was waiting, he removed the clothes he had worn during the attack and changed into others that had been brought for him. Shortly after, the two boarded another taxi and returned to the Agios Pavlos area, where “Bitzo” was waiting. They informed him that the plan had been successfully carried out.
It wasn’t his first attack
Even more alarming is the fact that, according to evidence gathered so far, the grenade attack at Plateia Amerikis was not the first violent act the minor had allegedly participated in. He is believed to have assisted “Bitzo” in a Molotov cocktail attack on a café in the Agios Nikolaos area just months earlier. According to the case file, the two met near a railway line, where they assembled two improvised Molotov cocktails. They then walked to the café and threw both devices, with one landing inside the establishment.
