Popular Justice is a Greek arsonist group that claimed responsibility for a December 2003 arson attack on the house of District Court Judge Venizelos Mouratoghlou.  The group placed two explosive devices in the stairwell and by the front door of Mouratoghlou's residence, causing minor structural damage, but no casualties. <P><br /><br />In a claim of responsibility, the group said the attack was motivated by the "farce taking place at Koridhallos" and the "US-manipulated Greek justice that acquits policemen murderers who fire with a shot on the head."  These statements are apparently in response to guilty verdicts in a trial against members of Greek terrorist group 17N, handed down earlier in the week. <P> <br /><br />From this claim, one can deduce that Popular Justice is a typical Greek terrorist group, who use arson to voice their disapproval with Greek government policies, especially those involving other Greek leftist and anarchist organizations.  Such groups often are made up of loosely affiliated individuals, and are not highly structured organizations.  Groups such as these often attack more then once, but use different names for different incidents.  <br />

Popular Justice has not claimed responsibility for any terrorist incidents since December 2003. Although members of the group may be operating under different names, it is probable that Popular Justice will not be responsible for any further attacks.  <br />

National Liberation Army (Colombia) -- Rival and Ally
Pedro Leon Arboleda Movement -- Splinter Group
Simon Bolivar Guerilla Coordinating Board (CGSB) -- Umbrella Organization

The Popular Liberation Army grew out of the Colombian Communist movement of the 1960s.  In 1967, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (ML-CP) broke off from the larger communist political party, the Colombian Communist Party.  Dissatisfied with the political chaos of 1960's Colombia, the ML-CP augmented its political organization with an armed wing in 1967.  The new group soon embarked on terrorist activities under the name People's Liberation Army.  Both the ML-CP and EPL advocated the Maoist ideology of sparking a national socialist revolution by beginning in the countryside.  Efforts to indoctrinate the peasantry largely failed and the EPL never reached the size of larger Colombian terrorist insurgencies such as the FARC and ELN.  In an effort to expand their support base, the EPL abandoned strict Maoism in 1980.  The group continued, however, to work toward the goal of overthrowing the democratically elected Colombian government and replacing it with a communist state.  Furthermore, the EPL continued to pursue these insurrectionist goals through terrorist activities.