In Brief
POLICE SUSPENSIONS
Two senior officers alleged to have embezzled 700,000 euros The head of the police internal affairs department and a subordinate have been suspended from duty on suspicion of embezzling some 700,000 euros from the force’s coffers, it emerged yesterday. The two men, who were not named, are alleged to have forged invoices in order to steal the money without anyone noticing. It emerged that the last check of the department’s finances took place 15 years ago. ANASTASIADIS RULING Council to mull TV presenter’s appeal for removal of judge A judicial council is expected to meet tomorrow or early next week to rule on an appeal by TV presenter and publisher Themos Anastasiadis to have magistrate Dimitris Economou removed from an investigation on the grounds that he is not impartial. Anastasiadis filed the appeal after a clash with Economou over his tax records. Anastasiadis has been accused of breaching the privacy rights of former Culture Ministry general secretary Christos Zachopoulos by copying a DVD that showed the ex-public official having sex with his assistant and allegedly using it to secure preferential treatment from the government. Landfill inspection European Commission officials are due in Athens tomorrow to inspect the country’s progress in closing down more than 1,000 illegal landfills. According to sources, the officials will be the rapporteurs at a forthcoming trial that Greece faces for failing to meet EU waste management standards. The verdict will determine the size of the fine that the country will face for its violation, currently estimated at 34,000 euros per day per landfill. Tea cure Drinking green tea on a daily basis may help ward off heart disease, Greek researchers have found. A study conducted by cardiologists at the Athens Medical School found that green tea improves blood flow and the ability of arteries to relax. The Greek team said the special benefits of green tea lay in its high quantities of flavonoid compounds that are also found in cocoa, tomatoes and grapes. Usury charges Police in Thessaloniki were yesterday questioning four people believed to have blackmailed a 29-year-old hotelier into paying them 2,000 euros by threatening to harm his family. The sum of 2,000 euros is believed to have been the interest due on a 15,000-euro loan. Officers arrested two men, aged 30 and 31, who are alleged to have made the threats. The suspected ringleaders, aged 46 and 54, were later arrested. Tram crash Three people were slightly injured when a truck crashed into a tram on Poseidonos Avenue yesterday morning. The truck driver was reversing and apparently did not see the tram turning into Achilleos Street in Palaio Faliron. School sit-in The teachers’ federation (OLME) has asked the public prosecutor not to press charges in connection with last year’s school sit-ins. The prosecutor has called in pupils, their parents, teachers and headmasters for questioning as part of a preliminary inquiry.
