In Bief
CAVO SIDERO
Court rules major tourism project on Crete illegal The Council of State yesterday ruled illegal a controversial project to build a large holiday complex and golf course on a 2,500-hectare plot on the eastern tip of Crete, dubbed Cavo Sidero. The country’s highest administrative court deemed that a ministerial decision issued in February 2007, granting a British development company the right to proceed with the project, was illegal as it violated restrictions for construction on the island. KALLITHEA SHOOTOUT Georgian and two Greeks held Police were questioning a 34-year-old Georgian and two Greeks in connection with a shootout which took place in Kallithea, southern Athens, yesterday evening. Four members of the police’s motorcycle-riding unit DIAS stopped to question the three men after considering them suspicious. When asked to show identification, the Georgian allegedly pushed one of the officers, took out a gun and aimed at one of the officers. The latter then fired at the Georgian, causing him minor injuries. The two Greeks, one a 47-year-old doctor, were being questioned about their connection to the armed Georgian. ADEDY stoppage ADEDY, the civil servants’ union, has called a work stoppage for Monday. Its members will not work between noon and 3 p.m. to mark the second anniversary of the murder of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos by a policeman. ADEDY called on all its members to take part in a rally that will begin at noon in central Athens. Sunday opening The Council of State is to decide whether shops in central Athens should be allowed to open on Sunday, December 12. Traders have asked for special dispensation to open on Sunday, hoping that they can drum up some business ahead of the Christmas holidays in what has been a poor year for stores commercially. The decision has been opposed by labor unions. Work inspectors The Labor Inspectorate yesterday warned it would step up checks at businesses it suspects of keeping employees at work for too long and not paying the appropriate social security contributions after raiding the offices of Eurobank in Nea Ionia, northern Athens, on Thursday evening. Inspectors found 150 employees at the offices at 7 p.m. when they should have left their workplace by 6.15 p.m. Eurobank now faces the possibility of a hefty fine. Zachopoulos affair The appeals trial of four people accused of attempting to blackmail the former general secretary of the Culture Ministry, Christos Zachopoulos, was yesterday postponed until October 17. The four suspects are Zachopoulos’s former secretary Evi Tsekou, lawyer Christos Nikoloutsopoulos, television presenter Themos Anastasiadis and journalist Yiannis Makriyiannis. Bomb probe Police yesterday were questioning a 22-year-old Albanian believed to be behind a bomb blast at a nightclub in Alimos, southern Athens, on Thursday night. The suspect was spotted close to the Thea nightclub shortly after the blast, which caused damage but no injuries. Police said they found traces of explosives on his hands and clothes. It is thought that he was paid to plant the bomb.
