Trial of the Junta

In the summer of 1975, the leaders of the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 were put on trial in Athens, at the Korydallos prison, in one of the most important trials in modern Greek history. The main trial, for high treason and insurrection, began in July 1975, and the defendants included Georgios Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos, Nikolaos Makarezos and Dimitrios Ioannidis. In August 1975, the court sentenced Papadopoulos, Pattakos and Makarezos to death, and Ioannidis and others to long prison terms. The government of Konstantinos Karamanlis quickly commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment, a decision that avoided creating martyrs but angered some opponents of the junta. Further trials followed, including those related to the crushing of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and the torture of prisoners, in which Ioannidis and several police and military officers were convicted. Papadopoulos died in prison in 1999, and Ioannidis died in prison in 2010, never having shown remorse. The trials were seen as a crucial step in the transition to democracy, showing that those who overthrew democracy would be held accountable.