In Brief
RESIDENCE PERMITS
Migrants studying at school or universities to get legal status Migrants or the children of migrants who are currently studying in Greece and do not have a residence permit can apply to legalize their stay in the country, the Interior Ministry said yesterday. The amendment applies to people who are studying at state institutions in the secondary or tertiary sector and people who have graduated from these institutions after three years of study. Also the children of migrants who are at school in Greece will receive residence permits. Applicants have to submit the relevant paperwork and 150 euros to their local municipality. The deadline for applications is December 31 of this year. TSALIKIDIS APPEAL Family decides to continue legal fight after prosecutor’s report The family of late Vodafone software engineer Costas Tsakilidis said yesterday that they would appeal against a prosecutor’s report which concluded that the technician had committed suicide. The family’s lawyer Themistoklis Sofos informed the prosecutor, Yiannis Diotis, of the decision yesterday. In his report, Diotis said that Tsalikidis had knowledge of the illegal phone-tapping software that had been activated at four of Vodafone’s communication centers, although it was not clear whether he had also been involved in activating it. Sofos said that the family wants a «second opinion.» ALEX CASE Psychologists chosen to profile boys A team of five psychologists was named yesterday to examine the five boys in Veria, northern Greece, who told police that they killed 11-year-old Alex Meshivili but later retracted their confessions. The five experts will form a psychological profile of each of the youngsters to help police with their investigation. The five schoolchildren have contradicted each other in their testimonies to police, sources said. The psychologists have three months to complete their assessment of the children. Lillikas visit New Cypriot Foreign Minister Giorgos Lillikas said in Athens yesterday after his first meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis that Nicosia would not support Turkey’s effort to join the European Union unless Ankara began to fulfill its obligations. «If Turkey responds positively, our support will continue. If it maintains its current negative stance then our support for Turkey’s path to the EU should be considered anything but definite,» Lillikas said. Dirty air The Public Works and Environment Ministry said yesterday that air pollution levels in Athens exceeded precautionary levels on one of the hottest days of the year. The air pollution level reached 208 milligrams per cubic meter yesterday. The emergency level is set at 240 mg/m3. The ministry recommended that people with breathing difficulties or heart problems should remain indoors and avoid strenuous physical activity. Fake auction A lawyer in Thessaloniki has been arrested for accepting money from a couple to buy an apartment on their behalf at an auction which never took place, police said yesterday. The couple gave the unnamed 44-year-old 15,000 euros after he allegedly showed them a forged copy of a court decision relating to the apartment which had become the property of the state when the owner died without any heirs. Cannabis destroyed Police on Crete said yesterday that they had located and uprooted 580 cannabis trees in a remote area in the municipality of Mousouron. The trees were up to 3 meters tall. Police said they would carrying out similar operations on the island throughout the summer. Pedestrian deaths An Albanian woman was killed in Thessaloniki yesterday after being run over by car on a road in the area of Asvestohori. A few hours later, a second pedestrian, aged 46, was killed in Thessaloniki after being hit by an oncoming vehicle. No further details were immediately available. Water works The Athens Water Company said yesterday that water supplies will be cut off to parts of Vyronas and Ilioupolis from this evening until 7 a.m. tomorrow due to maintenance work being conducted on its network.
