The government said yesterday it would investigate how a university professor was detained for two hours after a miscommunication between police and the courts over a warrant issued against the academic in 1973.

Vassilis Droukopoulos was detained on Tuesday when he applied for a new passport at a police station at Hellenikon, southern Athens.

A routine check by policemen revealed that during Greece’s 1967-74 junta a military court had issued a warrant for insubordination against Droukopoulos.

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras had to intervene on behalf of Droukopoulos because the police do not have the power to dismiss warrants.

Polydoras told Kathimerini that such problems are often due to poor communication between the police and top judicial authorities. “In many cases someone has been cleared on appeal but the police only have on file the first decision regarding the guilty verdict,” he said.

A team of experts will be appointed to assess the situation and to recommend changes to the system, the minister added.