In Brief
ELA TRIAL
Prosecutors call for Kassimis, Serifis to be freed, 4 convicts to be sentenced Two prosecutors at the trial of four convicted Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) members and two more suspects in connection with the group’s 10-year bombing campaign recommended yesterday that Michalis Kassimis, 59, and Yiannis Serifis, 67, should be exonerated. Convicted ELA members Christos Tsigaridas, 65, Costas Agapiou, 57, Angeletos Kanas, 53, and Irini Athanassaki, 49, should receive another conviction for participation in eight of the 10 attacks to which they have been linked, the prosecutors said. JAM ALERT Consumers warned over additive The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) yesterday advised consumers not to eat LaMel-brand strawberry jam after tests on a batch revealed high levels of the preservative benzoic acid. EFET has ordered the withdrawal of all LaMel strawberry jams, manufactured by the Thessaloniki-based firm Meletiadis. Benzoic acid is not classified as toxic. Last month, EFET had reassured consumers that Greek jam was safe following complaints from the Czech Republic about high levels of E201 (sodium sorbate), which can provoke allergies, in jams made by Meletiadis. Pool death A 13-year-old girl choked to death on Monday evening during her swimming practice at the public baths in Halandri, Athens police said yesterday. Magdalini Papathanassiou started choking just five minutes into her practice, and efforts by her coach and a lifeguard to save her were futile, according to police. It was unclear what caused the girl to choke. Stores charged An Athens prosecutor yesterday brought price-fixing charges against seven major supermarket chains and the Association of Greek Supermarkets (SESME). The supermarkets charged are Veropoulos, Vassilopoulos, Atlantic, Sklavenitis, Masoutis, Trofino and Metro. Mosque move An old mosque located on the site of the Pavlou Mela military barracks near Thessaloniki is today to be shifted away from adjacent roadworks on special ramps. The mosque is to be moved 25 meters forward to ensure that it remains within the site of the barracks as works to broaden Lagada Street get under way. It is unclear how old the mosque is. Unaccompanied minors The conditions in which unaccompanied refugee children are kept in Greece have improved very little in the last six years, Ombudsman Giorgos Kaminis said yesterday during a joint press conference with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Last year, 302 unaccompanied minors entered Greece, most of them from Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, the UNHCR said. University assessment A draft bill for university assessment was yesterday approved in Parliament by deputies of ruling New Democracy but voted down by opposition party MPs. EKAB strike National First Aid Center (EKAB) workers are to stage a four-hour work stoppage from 9 a.m. today in protest at the misuse by citizens of the emergency 166 telephone number. EKAB workers include ambulance staff and paramedics. Patriarch visit Archbishop Christodoulos is due to visit Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios in Istanbul for the first time on Saturday, the patriarch’s name day, sources at the Archbishopric said yesterday. Deputy Foreign Minister Panayiotis Skandalakis is due to visit the patriarch on the same day.
