In Brief
CORRUPTION INDEX
Experts still perceive Greece to have serious problems with graft Greece is more corrupt than countries like Tunisia, Mauritius and Latvia, according to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index released yesterday by anti-graft watchdog Transparency International. TI found that Greece was the 54th least corrupt country out of 163 states surveyed. Finland, Iceland and New Zealand are the least corrupt. Last year, Greece was the 47th least corrupt out 159 countries. The index score relates to the degree of corruption perceived by business people and analysts who mark countries between 0 (highly corrupt) and 10 (very clean). Greece was given 4.4 this year. ANTONIS DROSOYIANNIS One of PASOK’s founders and former minister dies at age of 84 Former defense and public order minister Antonis Drosoyiannis died late on Sunday at the age of 84, it was revealed yesterday. The cause of his death was not made public. Drosoyiannis was one of the founding members of PASOK and had served in the Socialist governments of Andreas Papandreou in the 1980s. President Karolos Papoulias, who also served in government during this period, said that Drosoyiannis was «a patriot and a fighter.» PASOK leader George Papandreou hailed Drosoyiannis as a great public servant. FLASHING POLICEMAN Officer caught revealing himself A 40-year-old policeman has been arrested for allegedly exposing his genitals to oncoming female motorists in the northern Athenian suburb of Gerakas. The unnamed officer was charged with sexual harassment at the beginning of the month after being reported to police by his alleged victims. The officer, who was recently appointed as a guard for diplomatic officials, was charged for a similar offense a few years ago, officers said. Bound and gagged A gang of five to seven masked men allegedly bound and gagged a family of three in their home in Nea Smyrni, southern Athens, yesterday, before making off with jewelry and other personal possessions. The gang is said to have attacked the 65-year-old businessman as he walked out of his apartment. They then entered his home and tied up the man’s wife and daughter along with their live-in maid. Acropolis fragment A marble frieze from the Acropolis that was taken to Sweden by a navy officer more than a century ago is to be returned to Greece this week, a museum in Stockholm said yesterday. The fragment, from the Erechtheion temple which dates to 420 BC, was handed over to the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm by Birgit Wiger-Angner, whose family has had the piece since the 1890s. Soccer arrests Five Panathinaikos soccer fans were charged yesterday after being caught trying to attend their team’s match against rival Olympiakos armed with flares, squibs and other banned items. Officers said they seized 58 flares inside the Olympic Stadium on Sunday. Meanwhile, authorities said they are looking for eight Olympiakos fans who went on the rampage in Peristeri, western Athens, on October 22. The fans, aged 21 to 32, allegedly attacked a cafeteria, causing more than 15,000 euros’ worth of damage. Nobody was injured. Bike patrols The Public Order Ministry yesterday delivered 322 scooters to the police headquarters in Athens and Thessaloniki for use by officers patrolling the cities’ residential districts. The bikes are to be given to officers who usually patrol these districts by foot, the ministry said. Police are set to receive another 500 scooters in March. Shop firebombed Vandals caused some 50,000 euros’ worth of damage to a sports good store at the Kaftantzogleio Stadium in Thessaloniki early yesterday, police said. Molotov cocktails were thrown at the storefront. The stadium is used by Iraklis soccer club, which is languishing at the bottom of the Super League. Officers did not say if unhappy fans were responsible for the attack. Heroin arrest A 26-year-old man was arrested in Thessaloniki yesterday after he allegedly attempted to sell 200 grams of heroin to an undercover police officer for 2,500 euros. A search of the suspect’s home uncovered an additional 38 grams of the drug, police added.
