In Brief
Kissinger accused
Four PASOK MPs want him sued for Cyprus ’74 coup Four PASOK MPs are seeking Foreign Ministry support for the prosecution of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for allegedly instigating the 1974 coup against former Cyprus President Makarios and the subsequent Turkish invasion of the island. Stelios Papathemelis, Panayiotis Kritikos, Kyriakos Spyriounis and Yiannis Kapsis claim Kissinger was also behind the attempted murder of both Makarios and Ilias Dimitrakopoulos, a US-based Greek journalist who tried to rally support in Congress against the 1967-74 junta in Greece, the Athens News Agency said. The four MPs have said «The Trial of Kissinger,» a book by British writer Christopher Hitchens, contains evidence against Kissinger. COAST GUARD Romilda owner sues for 500 million drachmas The owner of the Romilda ferry, whose captain was arrested on Wednesday after port police discovered he was carrying 127 passengers over capacity, is to bring charges today against the chief of the coast guard. Ferry-owner Gerasimos Agoudimos is suing for 500 million drachmas, which he says will go to the families of victims of the September 2000 Express Samina ferry disaster. Agoudimos said claims of extra passengers on the Romilda were incorrect and allegedly resulted from hostility felt by the Coast Guard chief Andreas Syrigos toward Agoudimos, the Athens News Agency reported. Academy Cleric appointed president Bishop Ioannis of Pergamos was yesterday officially appointed President of the Athens Academy during a ceremony attended by President Costis Stephanopoulos. It is the first time a cleric has held the Academy’s top post. KKE conviction A Thessaloniki appeals court has sentenced a member of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) to eight months in prison for injuring a senior police officer during a demonstration against the deployment of NATO soldiers at the port of Gritsa in Litohoro, in the northern prefecture of Pieria, in April 2000. Zacharias Karakitsios, town counselor of Litohoro, was given the choice of paying off his eight-month sentence – reduced from 10 months – but refused it. KKE members demonstrated against the conviction yesterday. Schoolyard holes Parents and pupils of two Thessaloniki primary schools met yesterday to protest against gaping holes in the ground in the courtyards of both schools, demanding that lessons stop until school authorities can assure them their children’s lives will not be in danger. The protest was sparked after pupils of the city’s 4th and 85th primary schools noticed holes as deep as five meters, apparently resulting from subsidence, in the courtyards. Exorcism Three Nigerian nationals charged with causing the death of a Nigerian woman during an exorcism ceremony have been released after testifying before an investigating magistrate in Athens yesterday. The Vicar Adebeo Tsimo of the Pentecostal church in Amerikis Square was granted bail of 800,000 drachmas and banned from leaving the country. His wife, Maureen Miken, and Baseki Gansbuer, were released unconditionally. The president of the Synod of the Apostolic Churches of the Pentecost in Greece yesterday said their church has no affiliation with the Nigerians. «This so-called ‘Faith Apostolic Ministries’ is something totally strange to us, coming, as far as I know, from Nigeria. We don’t know these people,» Charalambos Sideropoulos said. Vanished kiosk An Athens court yesterday sentenced a civil engineer to six months in prison, finding him responsible for the collapse of the ground beneath a kiosk in October 1997 by violating construction regulations while supervising Metro works at the Panepistimiou station. Jean Claude Landry, an employee of contractor Olympic Metro, said he warned subway company Attica Metro of impending danger, but was allegedly told to clear the area around the kiosk. Kiosk vendor Eustratios Trapezalides said Metro officials advised him to abandon his kiosk without warning him of any danger. The kiosk disappeared into the ground. Bardot French former actress Brigitte Bardot has written to President Costis Stephanoulos to appeal against the lifting of the ban on bird hunting in Greece, following the recent wave of severe weather which has weakened them. A ban imposed to protect birds and animals ended on Wednesday.
