Seven members of a narcotics squad in Kilkis, northern Greece, were charged yesterday with possessing and selling drugs after Internal Affairs police found small quantities of heroin and cannabis in their desks on Thursday. The seven law enforcers were detained after a drug user reported that they offered him narcotics in exchange for information that would lead to the arrests of his suppliers. An investigation into the incident has begun and the seven police officers have been suspended from their duties.

A third witness yesterday told a court hearing the appeal of members of the November 17 terrorist group that he saw chief hit man Dimitris Koufodinas taking part in the murder of police officer Christos Matis at a branch of the National Bank in Petralona on December 24, 1984. Two witnesses said on Thursday that Koufodinas was at the scene dressed as a policeman. Giorgos Kasios, a teller at the bank, yesterday identified Patroklos Tselentis as the man who fired the shot. Tselentis was found guilty of being an accomplice to the murder in the original trial.

Two brothers were each sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday by a court in Thessaloniki that found them guilty of running a cigarette-smuggling ring. Giorgos and Iraklis Anthemidis, both sentenced in absentia, were found guilty of forgery, money laundering and illegal trade in one of the biggest rackets of its kind in northern Greece. Six others were each handed down sentences of 7.5 years while another man also received a 25-year jail term. Three suspects were found innocent.

Greek photographer Yiannis Kontos won an award yesterday in the 2005 World Press Photo competition with this photo of a father in Sierra Leone who lost both of his arms being helped to dress by his son. Kontos won first prize in the Contemporary Issues Singles category of the awards, which were announced yesterday.

A prosecutor has charged a female lawyer and two female relatives with premeditated murder in connection with the death in January 1995 of an 8-month-old baby who suffered from Down Syndrome, court sources said yesterday. The lawyer was the baby’s mother. Charges were brought after the lawyer’s husband filed a lawsuit claiming that his wife had killed the baby with the help of her relatives because she could not face raising the child. A magistrate has been assigned to investigate the case.

A closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in Dafni, southeastern Athens, used for monitoring traffic was set on fire by youths and destroyed yesterday, police said. Dozens of similar cameras, installed for the Olympic Games, have been destroyed by arsonists.

A section of Petrou Ralli Street in Athens will be closed off completely to traffic in both directions tomorrow between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., the Public Works Ministry said yesterday. The closure will affect the section between the junction with Kifissou Avenue and the Thivon Street bridge so workers can remove some temporary signs.

Four in 10 Greek schools are more than 30 years old, a study by the Education Ministry made public yesterday has found. Two in 10 school buildings have been built in the last decade. Schools have, on average, one computer for every 11 schoolchildren and 88 percent of the buildings have central heating, the survey discovered.