Ex-mayor convicted of embezzlement claims disability for early release
The former mayor of Thessaloniki, Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, was expected to be on Tuesday released from Diavata Prison, where he has served over one-fifth of a 12-year sentence for embezzling money from municipal coffers, the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) reported.
Papageorgopoulos applied for early release under a new law introduced by the Ministry of Justice that eases the terms of confinement for inmates with chronic illnesses or disabilities.
The ex-mayor of the northern port city, convicted as an accessory to the theft of 18 million euros from municipal coffers, presented the Parole Board with a medical certificate claiming that he suffers from 67 percent disability. Papageorgopoulos has suffered a heart attack and has undergone surgery since being jailed.
