The mayor of Veria, Christos Skoubopoulos, yesterday filed a lawsuit against a lawyer defending one of the schoolboys alleged to be involved in the disappearance of 11-year-old Alex Meshivili from the northern city.

Skoubopoulos accused Sotiris Papadopoulos of defamation and “spreading false information” after the lawyer alleged in interviews with journalists that one of the mayor’s aides had threatened him.

Local elections are due to take place in October and the mayor demanded that Papadopoulos publicly name the local politician he was referring to. So far, the lawyer has refused to name the man but said that he was a member of the mayor’s camp. The nature of the alleged threat is not clear.

Five local schoolboys have been charged with murdering Alex in February and then disposing of the body. Their parents have also been charged with failing to control their children.

However, police have so far failed to find the child’s body and it is not clear when the case will get to court.