In Brief
PROFITEERING CRACKDOWN
Three traders indicted, four fined, hundreds warned in Athens State inspectors indicted three Athens street traders for profiteering, imposed fines on four others for violating market regulations and issued hundreds of warnings following checks conducted between August 1 and 12, officials said yesterday. Officials said they conducted a total of 1,815 inspections on street market stalls and 1,189 in stores in Athens’s historic center over this period. The surprise inspections are to continue until the end of the Olympics. TAXI DRIVERS Increase in complaints focusing on overcharging and rude behavior The Consumer Institute (INKA) said it had recently recorded an increase in consumer complaints about the behavior of taxi drivers. Top of the list of grievances was overcharging (especially of tourists), rudeness, and ignorance about roads. INKA reminded consumers that taxi drivers are obliged to help them with their luggage, that the surcharge to go to or from Athens airport is 3 euros, that an available taxi driver cannot refuse them a ride, and that the driver cannot take extra passengers without the permission of his original customer. INJURED JUDOKA Greek champion still critical Greek judoka Eleni Ioannou, 20, remains in critical condition, doctors at the Erythros Stavros Hospital said yesterday. The female heavyweight judo champion sustained serious injuries when she apparently jumped from her third-floor apartment in Perissos on August 7 following an argument with her boyfriend. Ioannou’s 24-year-old boyfriend Giorgos Chrysostomidis, who leapt from the same balcony the day after Ioannou, is in Evangelismos with serious injuries. Theodorakis stable Composer Mikis Theodorakis, 79, was in stable condition in the Athens Evangelismos Hospital yesterday following a gall bladder operation, doctors said. The composer had been rushed to hospital on Tuesday. Tent death A 24-year-old Polish national who had come to Kavala to work as a grape-picker died yesterday when a car came off the road and fell onto his tent in the Orfanos municipal campsite. Wojcik Skanomip was killed instantly, while a fellow Pole, a 29-year-old whose name was not made public, was seriously injured when the errant car careered into her tent. It is unclear why the car, driven by a 20-year-old from the village of Kariani, went off course. It first hit an empty caravan before landing on the tents, police said. Tutu diver A 31-year-old Canadian tourist who disrupted Monday’s Olympic synchronized diving contest by leaping into the swimming pool dressed in clown’s shoes and a tutu, was yesterday sentenced to five months in jail and fined 300 euros. Ron Bensimhon was found guilty of causing a public disturbance and violating legislation governing the staging of a sporting event. Fire risk Today there is a very high risk of fire in the areas of Iraklion and Siteia on Crete, as well as on Rhodes, Karpathos, Kos, Samos and Icaria, according to the General Secretariat for Civil Defense, which yesterday warned local authorities and fire service units to be on standby. Nafpaktos quakes Two moderate quakes, measuring 4.2 and 4.4 on the Richter scale, struck the mountains above Nafpaktos, in Aitoloacarnania, yesterday afternoon. The quakes, which occured at 5.36 p.m. and 5.39 p.m. respectively, did not cause any injuries or damage. Crime drop There has been a significant drop in robberies in Thessaloniki this summer compared to the same time last year, according to figures released by the city’s police headquarters yesterday. There were two robberies last June, compared to 14 in June 2003; there were 119 thefts last July compared to 178 in July 2003, and there were a total of 300 car thefts between June and mid-August this year, compared to 501 during the same period last year, the figures showed.
