- Dimitrios Ioannides
Dimitrios Ioannides (also Dimitris Ioannidis, Greek Δημήτρης Ιωαννίδης) (born
March 13 ,1923 ) was a Greek military officer who was involved in theGreek military junta of 1967-1974 .He was born in
Athens to an upper middle-class business family with roots in Epirus.He participated on the government side in the
Greek Civil War and later served in theMakronisos internment camp, which detained communists. In 1963, he served inCyprus .Ioannides took active part in the
coup d'etat ofApril 21 ,1967 but preferred to stay in the background during the first six years, allowingGeorge Papadopoulos to take the limelight. Ioannides became chief of theGreek Military Police (ESA) which he developed into a feared force for military and civilians alike. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1970 andbrigadier general in 1973.After the
Athens Polytechnic uprising of November 1973, Ioannides organised a coup d'état and, onNovember 25 , overthrew Papadopoulos and installed his friend and fellow Epirote,Phaedon Gizikis , asPresident of Greece .Ioannides also organised the
July 15 ,1974 coup d'état in Cyprus which overthrew the government of ArchbishopMakarios III . This led to the Turkish invasion of the island onJuly 20 which, in turn, led to the downfall of the Greek Junta and tometapolitefsi .On January 14 1975, Ioannidis was detained and tried on charges of high treason, rebellion, and of being an accessory to the manslaughters perpetrated during the
Athens Polytechnic uprising . He was given a death sentence, later commuted to life imprisonment, which he is still serving atKorydallos Prison .On July 21 2007, the 86 year-old Ioannidis filed a request to be discharged for health reasons.
In 2002, his name, along with other surviving members of the Junta leadership, was removed from the Greek register of electors.Fact|date=February 2007
External reference
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908287,00.html loannidis: Power in the Wings] , "TIME", 10 December 1973
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.