ATHENS, Greece — Greek police destroyed a bomb outside an Athens bank Wednesday, allegedly planted in solidarity with a convicted bank robber who held a month-long hunger strike because he wanted leave to attend business school classes.
Police said an anonymous caller alerted authorities to the timer-activated bomb in the northern Aghia Paraskevi suburb early Wednesday. Authorities cordoned off the area and destroyed the device.
The caller, who gave a 30-minute warning, said the attack was in solidarity for Nikos Romanos, an anarchist, who had refused to take food since Nov. 10 and is in an Athens hospital. Authorities had rejected Romanos’ bids to attend university classes.
Romanos, 21, called off the strike later Wednesday after Parliament passed special legislation that would allow him to take his course through a combination of distance learning and physical attendance using electronic tagging.