In Brief
SPORT RETURNS
Soccer, basketball resume after ban but Aris prevented from taking part Soccer and basketball games are due to take place again this weekend after a two-week suspension but Aris has been barred from taking part because the Thessaloniki club has distributed tickets to its supporters’ clubs. The General Secretariat for Sports said yesterday that it was suspending Aris’s soccer match against Ergotelis as well as its basketball encounter against local rivals PAOK because the club had distributed tickets for the games through its supporters’ clubs despite the government’s suspension of their activity in the wake of a fan being killed during clashes between hooligans last month. Aris has appealed against the decision. CAMERA SHY Privacy watchdog stops homeowner from using CCTV to monitor maid The Hellenic Data Protection Authority has prevented a homeowner from installing a CCTV surveillance system in his home so he could monitor his housekeeper, saying such a move would violate her privacy rights, it was revealed yesterday. The unnamed man said he wanted a license to install the system because both he and his wife worked a long distance from their home and wanted to make sure that the housekeeper was not mistreating their children. The privacy watchdog ruled that the system could not be installed because the housekeeper had not been informed that she was going to be monitored. DIPLOMAT SENTENCED 12-year jail term for bribe-taking A court in Thessaloniki sentenced a diplomat to 21 years in prison yesterday for receiving bribes to issue some 2,500 visas from Greece’s consulate in Ukraine. Constantine Bibikos, a former general secretary at the consulate, was convicted on charges of forgery, bribery and money laundering for a series of offences committed between January and April 2002. An embassy clerk was also jailed for 19 years while a Ukrainian woman, a tour operator, was given a nine-year sentence in absentia. The defendants said they would appeal the judgment. Greeks abroad The Greek Communist Party (KKE) parliamentary spokesman Antonis Skyllakos said yesterday that Greeks living abroad should not be given the right to vote in Greece’s general elections. The Interior Ministry is set to change the law so that members of the Greek diaspora can vote in their countries of residence but Skyllakos said his party believed this could lead to the «will of the Greek people» not being truly reflected. He argued that most Greeks living abroad were not in touch with developments in Greece and that the political parties would not be competing on a level playing field. Balkan summit The chief of staff of the Greek armed forces, Panayiotis Hinofotis, is to meet with nine counterparts from the Balkan region in Thessaloniki on Wednesday, defense officials confirmed yesterday. Among the army chiefs due to attend is Turkey’s military chief of staff Yasar Buyukanit with whom Hinofotis is scheduled to have talks on the sidelines of the summit, following an increase in tension between Athens and Ankara in recent months. The summit will focus on boosting regional cooperation enhancing security, averting crises and mitigating the impact of natural disasters. Building fire Twelve apartments, two stores and a bar were damaged in a fire in Iraklion, Crete, authorities said yesterday. There were no reports of injuries. The fire started at ground level in the 12-story building but authorities did not know what had caused the blaze. Corn ban The government yesterday banned 16 types of hybrid genetically modified corn from being imported into the country, bringing the total number of banned corn types to 47. Greece took the move despite a European Union decision to accept the corn. Agricultural Ministry officials said the decision was based on scientific evidence showing that the corn could have harmful environmental effects. The ministry yesterday also blocked the import of 88 tons of Chinese rice grown from genetically modified seeds. Pilot memorial A bust of Flight Lieutenant Costas Iliakis, who was killed during a mock dogfight with a Turkish fighter jet last year, is to be erected in his hometown of Hania, Crete, the municipal council decided late on Thursday.
