<p>ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s highest administrative court on Tuesday refused to take immediate action on the bid — backed by a weeks-long hunger strike — by a far-left militant serving 11 life sentences for a string of murders to be transferred to a prison of his choice.</p>
<p>Dimitris Koufodinas, the main hit man for the now-defunct November 17 group, is on the 60th day of his hunger strike, as a result of which he suffered kidney failure last week. The 63-year-old is being treated in intensive care at a hospital in Lamia, some 215 kilometers (130 miles) north of Athens.</p>
<p>Sympathizers have staged a series of arson and vandalism attacks in recent days, while several protest marches have been staged in Athens and elsewhere to support Koufodinas’ demands.</p>
<p>According to state ERT TV,, the Council of State ruled Tuesday that it had no jurisdiction to temporarily freeze the order under which Koufodinas was transferred in December to a prison at Domokos, near Lamia. ERT said the court would rule on the legality of the transfer order on April 2.</p>
<p>Koufodinas wants to be returned instead to an Athens prison where he previously spent years in solitary confinement. His lawyer has argued that at Domokos he has to share a cell with other inmates, which makes it hard for him to read or listen to the radio in peace.</p>
<p>November 17, which mixed Marxism with nationalism, killed 23 people, including U.S., British and Turkish diplomats, between 1975 and 2000. It was eradicated following a string of arrests in 2002 and subsequent convictions.</p>
