Liapis to sue over claims
Culture Minister Michalis Liapis yesterday denied any part in the Siemens bribery scandal and labeled reports to the contrary as acts of «political terrorism,» as he revealed that he intends to sue the Eleftherotypia newspaper. The daily claimed that Liapis had in 2005 traveled with his son at the expense of the then Siemens Hellas managing director Michalis Christoforakos to Germany to watch the Greek national soccer team in action. Liapis denied this was the case and insisted that he had paid for the trip. «This has gone far enough,» he said at a press conference as he read out a statement, which sources said had been given the green light by the prime minister’s office. «Unsubstantiated rumors have been used to drag my name through the mud for days. The trip to Germany was a private journey. I only traveled with my son and I organized and paid for the trip myself.» Eleftherotypia cited four documents that belonged to Christoforakos and which had been submitted as evidence in an investigation by prosecutor Panayiotis Athanassiou. It also cited testimony by Christoforakos’s secretary who said that she arranged travel and accommodation for nine people, without naming them. Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos later backed Liapis, saying that the government had looked into the matter and found nothing untoward. PASOK leader George Papandreou was not satisfied with the government’s answers and accused it of manipulating Athanassiou to get him to conclude his preliminary investigation on Tuesday without bringing charges against any politicians. «I am addressing the overwhelming majority of judges: Do not let a minority of corrupt judges carry out shady political plans like party puppets,» he said.
