Court overturns convictions of jailed 'anarchists' Irianna and Pericles

An Athens appeals court on Thursday overturned the convictions of Irianna and Pericles, two university graduates accused of belonging to urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire and whose first names have become a symbol of protests against their detention.

According to the ANA-MPA news agency, the decision of the five-judge court to overturn the pair's 13-year conviction was unanimous and was met with applause from the packed courtroom.

The judges ruled that the evidence against the pair was insufficient to prove an active link between the suspects and the group, which is responsible for setting off several makeshift bombs and sending booby-trapped letters to perceived targets.

"Social relationships cannot be criminalized," the president of the court said in the decision freeing the 29-year-old PhD candidate, Irianna, and the 34-year-old Agricultural...