Greek minister vows 'democracy always wins' after arrests in 2010 Marfin arson and recent Thessaloniki firebombing

Minister's statement from Crete

Michalis Chrisochoidis, speaking at the inauguration of a new police sub-directorate in Messara, Crete, on 10 July 2026, addressed the arrests connected to the 2010 arson attack on a Marfin bank branch in Athens and a recent firebombing targeting the Nestoras family home in Thessaloniki. The minister framed the detentions as proof that the Greek state pursues accountability regardless of how much time has passed.

Our democracy is very strong and always wins in the end. It does not win vindictively. Its victories are about vindication and the delivery of justice that must, each time, take place within the framework of the Constitution and the Laws.

The 2010 Marfin attack killed three bank employees, including a pregnant woman, during a violent general strike protest. For sixteen years the case remained without named suspects in custody.

The anonymous tip that revived the Marfin case

According to information reported by Greek media, an anonymous electronic complaint sent to the Greek FBI was the catalyst for the authorities to pull the Marfin case file back into active investigation. The message explicitly named the three individuals for whom arrest warrants were subsequently issued with the consent of an investigating magistrate and a prosecutor. Other people said to belong to the same group were also mentioned in the tip. Police conducted a preliminary inquiry, and the findings were assessed and forwarded to the competent judicial authorities.

Thessaloniki arson and the Nestoras family

The recent case in Thessaloniki involved a fatal arson attack on the home of the Nestoras family. Chrisochoidis referenced it directly in his remarks, calling the perpetrators unrepentant individuals who turn into murderers. He said the state's response to such acts is the application of the law, not extrajudicial revenge.

This is our answer to those unrepentant people who ultimately turn into murderers and attempt to carry out illegal acts that take the lives of innocent people.

Justice as the measure of democracy

Chrisochoidis repeated a three-part formulation: crime, the taking of a life, is inconceivable without the delivery of justice; democracy is inconceivable without the delivery of justice; and it is inconceivable that some would grant themselves the privilege of trying to intimidate others. When that happens, he said, democracy sustains a blow. But democracy, he argued, was strong today as it was in the past and will be even stronger tomorrow.