The release of a person who has served their entire sentence does not usually make international news. In the case of Nikos Maziotis , however, it took only a few hours for the State Department to publicly address the matter.
The man convicted of participating in the terrorist organization “Revolutionary Struggle” has been out of prison since Monday, having served his entire twenty-year sentence , with 14 years in prison and 6 years of prison labor .
On the occasion of his release, the US State Department issued a statement via X, in which it emphasizes that Maziotis is prohibited from entering the United States . “Nikos Maziotis was the leader of the Revolutionary Struggle, a Greek far-left terrorist organization that waged a prolonged campaign of violence against Greeks and Americans,” the text states. “Maziotis is expected to be released today. However, he is prohibited from entering the United States under visa restrictions that target far-left terrorists. Foreigners who support this toxic violence are not welcome in our country.”
The intervention has its own explanation. The Revolutionary Struggle had repeatedly targeted American interests in Greece, most notably the rocket attack against the US embassy in Athens in 2007. The organization is included in the US lists of terrorist organizations, which makes Washington’s position a consequence of a permanent policy and not an extraordinary reaction.
On the Greek side, Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis spoke on SKAI on Tuesday morning, highlighting the difference between the two legal systems. “The State Department has its own views on these issues. Europe has different laws than the US. Mr. Maziotis served his entire sentence and was released from prison, I hope he does not repeat actions that will lead to loss of life or endangerment of life,” he said.
This position accurately captures the point of friction. In the Greek and wider European legal framework, the service of the sentence exhausts the state’s claim and release is an automatic consequence, not a pardon or clemency. In the American approach, on the contrary, a conviction for terrorist acts entails permanent restrictions that extend beyond the completion of the sentence, with the most common tool being the exclusion from the granting of an entry visa.
In practice, therefore, it is not a disagreement over the facts, but a different philosophy of criminal treatment . Athens applies its law and Washington exercises its right to determine who enters its territory.
