Push for Kokkalis probe to speed up
Greece’s top prosecutor yesterday ordered that documents revealed by Kathimerini on Sunday be included in an ongoing investigation into allegations that telecommunications tycoon Socrates Kokkalis was a spy for the East German security service, the Stasi. Supreme Court prosecutor Evangelos Kroustallakis, in an urgent order, also called for a quickening of the investigation’s pace. Kokkalis was charged last February. On Sunday, Kathimerini presented documents from the Stasi’s electronic files suggesting that Kokkalis, code-named Krokus, provided information on Greek politicians from 1985 to 1989, when East Germany collapsed. Kokkalis yesterday responded to Kathimerini’s report, calling it false and saying that «the arrogant slanderers who launch such dirty attacks should know that their efforts will be given the answers they deserve.» Last year, a Piraeus court rejected a 6.6-million-euro slander suit brought by Kokkalis against Kathimerini over a series of articles on his possible collaboration with the Stasi, saying the reports were fully corroborated. Government spokesman Christos Protopappas said the government wanted the issue to be investigated fully by the judiciary, echoing the call of opposition New Democracy party on Sunday. ND’s honorary chairman, Constantine Mitsotakis, who was presented as a subject of Krokus’s reports, called for the inquiry to be handed to a senior judge (rather than a magistrate) as befits major issues.
