In Brief
POLICE VIOLENCE?
Officer faces probe after allegedly shooting man over parking space A Thessaloniki policeman faces a disciplinary probe after allegedly shooting a young man during an argument over a parking space yesterday morning while he was off duty. The unnamed officer, head of the Oraiokastro police station, had chided the young man for parking his car in front of a store for a few minutes. An argument followed and allegedly culminated with the officer reaching for his service revolver and shooting the young man in the left thigh. The officer claims his gun went off by mistake. The young man was yesterday in the hospital. His injuries are not believed to be serious. POLLUTION PROTEST Villagers block conveyor belts feeding ‘EU’s dirtiest power station’ Residents of the village of Akrini in the northern prefecture of Kozani yesterday blocked conveyor belts carrying the low-grade coal lignite to the nearby Aghios Dimitrios power station in protest at the mounting pollution in the area. Akrini is just over 3 kilometers from the power station, which emits more carbon dioxide than any other plant in Europe, according to experts. Residents are to continue their blockade today and will extend their action further if the Public Power Corporation fails to offer them a satisfactory solution, protesters said. Residents have asked for their 1,000-strong community to be relocated. TEACHERS PROBED Two pupils left behind on excursion Authorities in Kavala are to conduct a disciplinary investigation after teachers from a local school allegedly left behind two pupils on a school excursion. On the excursion to Pigadia in Xanthi, the teachers had reportedly called on pupils to board the bus early after an unexpected shower. The investigation is to focus particularly on a particular teacher who had been entrusted with counting the pupils on the bus. When the two children’s absence was noticed, another teacher took a taxi and returned to pick them up. Pensioner mugged Two foreign women, aged 23 and 47, faced charges of theft over the weekend after allegedly mugging a 74-year-old man inside a toy store in the northern town of Kilkis and depriving him of 5,000 euros. The women had allegedly seen the man withdrawing the cash from a nearby bank before following him into the toy store. The pair reportedly removed the man’s cash and bank book without him noticing. They were arrested upon leaving the store as two police officers had spotted them. Illegal gambling Three owners of amusement arcades in Thessaloniki were on Saturday charged with offering illegal gambling games on their computers. A ban on electronic gambling was imposed by the government in 2002.
