ATHENS – Two of Greece’s most prominent criminal defense attorneys caught up in the so-called Prison Mafia at the country’s alleged high-security Korydallos jail were given more time to prepare their defense.

Alexandros Lykourezos and Theodoros Panagopoulos were to remain in custody until April 22 and will appear before a special magistrate for terrorism, Eftichis Nikopoulos. A third lawyer, Giorgos Antonopoulos, was remanded earlier this month in connection with the same case, said Kathimerini.

The lawyers are facing charges of belonging to a criminal organization but denied the accusations although authorities reportedly have wire-tap evidence and witness testimonies against them, said to include conversations Antonopoulos had with the suspected prison racket leader, Albanian convict Claudian Lekotsai.

The paper said incriminating evidence has come from jailed energy executive Aristeidis Floros and from that of criminologist Ilias Anagnostopoulos during the trial for the murder in 2017 of another Athens lawyer, Michalis Zafeiropoulos.

Both Anagnostopoulos and Floros testified that Lykourezos tried to bribe Floros, offering in exchange a less damning testimony by his client Antonopoulos in a trial related to an attempt on his life in which Floros was also implicated.