September 1963

The month of September 1963 is a month of deep turmoil, especially for Northern Greece. It is marked from beginning to end by the daily developments in the investigation into the murder of the EDA MP Grigoris Lambrakis. The investigations begin on September 4th, with the 28-hour confession of the Inspector of Northern Greece, Konstantinos Mitsou (major general), before the prosecutor Christos Sartzetakis and the state prosecutor Stylianos Mpoutis. This is followed by the 26-hour confession of the Director of Police of Thessaloniki, Efthymios Kamoutsis (colonel). At the same time, the following are interrogated: Deputy Director of Thessaloniki Police, Michail Diamantopoulos (lieutenant colonel); Director of the Thessaloniki Police, Konstantinos Dolkas (lieutenant colonel); Anastasios Schinas (police lieutenant); Dimitrios Settas (major); Drakakis (police captain); Leonidas Symeonidis (police lieutenant); Christos Fokas — who is also detained in prison for the attack against the left-wing MP Georgios Tsarouchas; and other lower-ranking police officers. Most of them, first testify as witnesses in the Lambrakis murder and subsequently as defendants. The circle of interrogations is completed on September 12, 1963 with the 16-hour confession of the Commander of the 5th Police Station of Thessaloniki, Tryfon Papatriantafyllou (police captain). Those referred to by the press of the time as "The Four" (Mitsou, Kamoutsis, Diamantopoulos, Papatriantafyllou) are detained in the same month.

"The fact of their detention caused seismic upheavals in society, in the government, throughout Greece, abroad — everywhere." (Panagiotis S. Panagiotopoulos, Isaggelikos Logos, p. 8)