Passenger Suspected Of Trying To Free A Convicted Terrorist From Prison

An armed woman attempted to hijack a helicopter in Greece in an apparent attempt to free a convicted terrorist from Korydallos prison, according to that country's anti-terrorism unit.

The Athens News Agency reports that the woman, identified by the pilot as Pola Roupa, the wife of convicted terrorist Nikos Maziotis, had chartered the helicopter which was flying near Athens. During the flight, Roupa produced a gun and ordered the pilot to turn towards the city. The pilot attempted to disarm her, and she fired at him three times but missed. The bullets struck the instrument panel of the aircraft.

The pilot lost control of the aircraft during the struggle, according to the report, but regained control and landed in an uninhabited mountainous area near the town of Thiva. Roupa then reportedly jumped from the aircraft and fled. Police recovered the gun from the helo as well as a wig she had worn, and they are attempting to obtain DNA from the items.

Roupa was apparently trying to free Maziotis from the prison where he has been incarcerated since July 2014. He was convicted in absentia in 2013 of establishing the now-defunct Revolutionary Struggle terrorist group attempted murder, and a series of attacks for which the group had claimed credit.

FMI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Anti-Terrorist_Unit_(Greece)