In Brief
CORRUPTION FIGURES
Group says 17 pct of Greeks admit to bribing state official Figures released by Transparency International yesterday showed that 17 percent of Greeks have admitted to bribing a state official. Seventy percent of local residents also admitted that corruption is a problem, while just over four in 10 say they are not satisfied with the way the problem is being handled by the government. Costas Bakouris, president of Transparency International Hellas, called on all political leaders to address the problem in Greece and introduce the necessary legal changes to boost transparency and stamp out corruption. DRUG RING Six arrested in Athens and Rhodes on heroin charges The coast guard has arrested six people in Rhodes and Athens believed to have been smuggling narcotics from Athens to the Aegean Islands after finding them in possession of more than 4 kilos of heroin, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. Two foreign nationals, aged 19 and 17, were arrested at the port of Rhodes last week after authorities found hidden in their bags 1 kilo of heroin. Following a police interrogation, the two suspects named two men as being their contact points in Rhodes and two more men in Metamorphosis, northern Athens, as being their suppliers. The unidentified four suspects, all foreign nationals, were arrested shortly afterward. Police said they are continuing their investigation into the drug ring. FIRE INVESTIGATION Zakynthos mayor remanded Zakynthos Mayor Akis Tsagaropoulos was arrested on Sunday and charged with attempting to set fire to the municipality’s financial records department. Authorities are investigating a fire at the municipality offices on Friday night to determine whether the blaze is linked to claims of an economic scandal. Tsagaropoulos has been accused of forging municipality decisions as a means of siphoning money, according to press reports. Illegal migrants Authorities arrested yesterday 75 illegal immigrants off the Aegean island of Lesvos. Among the illegal immigrants, police said they arrested two suspected smugglers. Separately, the coast guard arrested 52 illegal immigrants located on a sailboat off the island of Hydra. A group of 17 illegal migrants were also rescued from an inflatable dinghy off the island of Samos after Port Authority officials were informed that a vessel was in danger. The Merchant Marine Ministry’s search-and-rescue unit was mobilized after receiving an anonymous tip-off by telephone. The migrants had set sail from the Turkish coast but their dinghy encountered engine trouble, authorities said. Forest fire fighters The Public Order Ministry said yesterday it has renewed the contract of 5,500 part-time forest fire fighters, employed on a seasonal basis, for another five years. The seasonal employees will have their contracts extended from four-and-a-half months to eight months, the ministry added. Driver killed One man was killed and three men were injured, including an MP candidate, in a car accident late on Sunday near Kavala, northern Greece, police said yesterday. The driver of a utility truck, a 41-year-old foreign national, was killed when his vehicle slammed into another two oncoming cars on a road close to the area of Nestou. MP candidate for Kavala Achilleas Karagiozopoulos and the other two injured men were taken to a local hospital for treatment. No further details were immediately available. Fatal plunge Rescue workers yesterday recovered the body of a 39-year-old man from the wreck of his car, which had fallen off a pier at the port of Piraeus. It is unclear how the car fell off the pier near the embarkation point for ferries heading to Chios and Lesvos. The man was transferred to the Tzanneio Hospital where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
