The four anarchists arrested following a bank robbery earlier this month in Velvento, northern Greece, said in a five-page statement on the Indymedia website that they did not fire the weapons they had as they did not want to use their hostage, a local dentist, as a human shield.

The four said that they would not have had a problem exchanging fire with the police if their hostage was a bank manager.

The four, aged 20 to 25, repeated allegations that they were beaten by police upon their arrest and then during custody.

The four said they were determined to fight the establishment “until the last bullet” and “until the last word” and saluted those who “are preparing their attacks now.”

The anarchists rejected “sympathy and understanding” from outsiders and rejected “friendly statements from journalists, SYRIZA and other systemic parties.”