In Brief
PRISON DRUG PARTY
Korydallos women’s jail governor sacked for New Year’s Eve deaths Justice Minister Philippos Petsalnikos yesterday accepted the resignation of the governor of Korydallos women’s jail, Ekaterini Sarissava, after the drug-related death on New Year’s Eve of three female inmates in their cell. The minister also decided to suspend the prison official on duty when the three inmates consumed a lethal cocktail of heroin – allegedly smuggled in by a fourth cellmate’s mother – anti-depressant pills and alcohol. Sarissava and her deputy have been charged with dereliction of duty for taking no action to stop Dora Carmen Villaba from smuggling the heroin into Greece’s largest prison, despite being allegedly aware of her activities. EXTRADITION Greece sends a dozen Turkish illegal immigrants back home Greece yesterday extradited 12 Turkish citizens who had entered Greece illegally, Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported. Turkish officials said two of the group were wanted in Turkey for unspecified criminal activities, the agency said. Greece and Turkey agreed in June to implement a joint protocol aimed at curbing illegal immigration. RAILWAY DISRUPTIONS No Omonia-Neo Iraklion service Commuters will not be able to travel between Omonia and Neo Iraklion stations on the Athens-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) today and tomorrow due to works to install a new signaling system. Passengers will be able to use their ISAP tickets on express buses on the 036 route – due to run every 6-12 minutes from 5 a.m. to midnight between Lavriou Square on 3rd September Street and Karaiskaki Square in Neo Iraklion. Immigration crackdown The number of would-be migrants caught illegally entering Greece by sea in 2002 was nearly half of that in 2001, Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis said yesterday during the official handover of 15 patrol boats from the Financial Crimes Squad to the coast guard. A total of 3,945 illegal immigrants entered Greece by sea in 2002, as compared to 6,864 in 2001, Anomeritis said, adding that coast guards had arrested 84 migrant smugglers and confiscated 67 ships last year. Parnitha quake A moderate earthquake, measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale, occurred at 6.57 p.m. yesterday with its epicenter the Mount Parnitha fault that was responsible for the major Athens quake of September 1999. No injuries or damage were reported. First robbery. An armed man made off with 8,000 euros yesterday in the first bank robbery of 2003, in the Athenian district of Peristeri. There were 123 bank robberies in Attica in 2002, up from 34 in 2001. Cosmonaut Georgian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin – who is of Greek descent – yesterday received an award from Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Magriotis in Thessaloniki, where he arrived last week to visit his parents. Fuel leak Coast guards off southern Evia yesterday arrested the Turkish captain of the Turkish-flagged Ayberk Kalkavan freighter suspected of having caused a 54-kilometer-long fuel leak off Karystos. Attiki Odos Stavros-bound traffic on the Attiki Odos will be suspended from 6.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow between the junctions with the National Road and Kymis Avenue. Traffic on Kymis Avenue will also be suspended between Spyros Louis and Mesolongi streets in both directions. Refugee camp The Public Power Corporation yesterday restored the electricity supply to a Kurdish refugee camp on Mount Pendeli, on the northern outskirts of Athens, following protests by human rights groups.
