Greek Students Arrested

Eight leading members of the National Union of Greek Students were sentenced in mid-June to five months imprisonment for having led student demonstrations in Athens on May 25 in protest against the alleged murder of Gregorios Lambrakis, a member of parliament. Deputy Lambrakis, who belonged to the Union of the Democratic Left (EDA)—a coalition of five smaller parties formed in 1951 and serving as a rallying point for members of the banned Communist Party—was run down by a motorcyclist following a disarmament rally in Salonika. The eight student leaders have filed an appeal against their sentences and have been released from prison pending a new trial.

Speaking in his own defence before the Criminal Tribunal in Athens, the President of the Student Union. Dzannetakos, declared that the attempts of Greek authorities to use violence to suppress the student movement in its fight for the rights of youth, the democratization of the educational system, and the solution of national problems, were doomed to failure. The student leader said that the students considered it their duty to protest vigorously against the "murder" of Lambrakis. He also charged the Government with protecting Right-wing terror groups, although in fact on June 3 Greek authorities ordered the immediate disbanding of the anti-Communist organization with which the accused motorcyclist was associated.

I.I.Y.A.