In Brief
SUPREME APPOINTMENT
Cabinet approves Giorgos Sanidas as Greece’s new top prosecutor The Cabinet yesterday approved the promotion of Giorgos Sanidas to Supreme Court prosecutor. Sanidas, previously deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court, had been the choice of Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras to replace the outgoing Dimitris Linos. The Cabinet also approved the promotion of 13 other judicial officials within the Supreme Court. Sanidas pledged that he and his colleagues would work to rebuild people’s faith in the justice system. ALEX INVESTIGATION Veria police wrap up latest probe into disappearance of schoolboy Police in Veria, northern Greece, yesterday handed to a local deputy prosecutor their updated report on an investigation into the disappearance of 11-year-old Alex Meshivili, paving the way for charges to be filed against the five schoolboys and any adults alleged to be involved in the case. Police had submitted the results of their first investigation on June 13 but deputy prosecutor Stefanos Zarkatzias had asked for more information before pressing any charges. HORSE AND CARRIAGE Drivers allowed back to Hania port Horse and carriage drivers were yesterday allowed back into the Venetian port of Hania, Crete, after having been banned from the area on Monday. The port authority evicted the drivers after a horse drowned and five people were rescued from the sea on Friday following an accident. However, the authority yesterday renewed the drivers’ licenses after they went on a hunger strike and protested outside the prefectural headquarters in Hania. Truman toppled Protesters yesterday pulled down the statue of late US President Harry S Truman on Vassileos Constantinou Avenue before an anti-war demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy. Later, police clashed with demonstrators and fired tear gas to disperse the crowds outside the embassy. Lesvos migrants Seven young migrants were found and detained by the coast guard in Lesvos yesterday after they had sailed to the eastern Aegean island from Turkey in two rubber dinghies, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The nationalities and ages of the illegal immigrants, all minors, was not made public. Coast guards also detained four men off the island’s coast who had sailed from Turkey. One of the men was taken to the hospital, the ministry said. Red-handed catch Police in Hania, Crete, said that they caught two burglars red-handed yesterday as they attempted to break into an apartment in the city center. The two Georgian nationals, aged 18 and 32, are suspected of stealing almost 60,000 euros worth of jewelry and some 22,000 euros in cash in the last month after breaking into seven homes in Hania and Rethymnon. Maid arrested A 53-year-old woman was arrested yesterday in Glyfada, southeastern Athens, accused of physically abusing two young children. Police arrested the woman, a housemaid, after receiving a report that she was beating the children, aged 5 and 3, in public. Fans firebombed A group of some 10 people on motorcycles threw Molotov cocktails at a club for Olympiakos supporters in Ilioupolis, eastern Athens, early yesterday morning, police said. Nobody was injured in the incident but the building housing the club was slightly damaged. Meanwhile, an AEK supporters’ club in Goudi, eastern Athens, was also firebombed but no injuries were reported. Fire controlled Firefighters managed to bring under control a fire that broke out in Artemida, east of Athens, yesterday before the blaze damaged local homes, authorities said. Sixty firefighters using 20 trucks were involved in the operation along with two helicopters and three water-dropping planes. Authorities said the fire burnt a small area of scrubland. Child pornography A 43-year-old man was arrested in Hania, Crete, yesterday after police found in his possession 16 hard disks containing child pornography. Police said that the suspect, who is partially disabled, also had 2,000 disks containing other pornographic material.
