In Brief
STRIKE GO-AHEAD
GSEE and ADEDY to hold rally at Parliament tomorrow Greece’s two largest unions, GSEE and ADEDY, said yesterday that they would go ahead with a 24-hour general strike tomorrow but that their rally would be held in front of Parliament rather than at the Pedion tou Areos park. The unions decided that the rally will begin at 11 a.m., as they emphasized that the gathering should be peaceful. Although initially organized to protest against the government’s economic policies, the rally is now likely to focus on the death of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos. The strike is likely to lead to flights to and from Greek airports being canceled and is expected to cause major disruption to the public transport system, with details due to be announced today. DIOXIN SCARE Warning over Irish pork Greece’s food safety watchdog advised consumers yesterday not to eat pork from Ireland. The European Union said yesterday that all shipments of Irish pork and processed pork products to member states should be halted as an emergency measure to avoid dioxin contamination of the food chain. Animal feed tainted with dioxins at levels about 100 times the maximum permitted in the EU was given to 10 pig farms in Ireland. The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) said it has begun carrying out checks but as of yesterday had not discovered any Greek companies importing Irish pork. Hire and steal A 34-year-old man was arrested on the Serres-Thessaloniki national road yesterday on suspicion of being a member of a gang that rented luxury cars in Greece, drove them abroad and sold them. The unnamed suspect was stopped while driving a car worth 200,000 euros, which he had allegedly rented in Thessaloniki using forged French documents. Police believe the man was intending to drive the vehicle out of the country via the Kipoi border post. The gang has allegedly stolen other cars using this method and officers are looking for other suspected members. Police trial A prosecutor in Thessaloniki yesterday recommended that a court should find seven police officers guilty of grievous bodily harm in connection with an attack on a Cypriot student in November 2006. The prosecutor has also recommended that a former police chief who witnessed the attack should be acquitted. New citizens Athens Prefecture said that 358 people took an oath yesterday to become Greek citizens. Figures show that 96 percent of them are from Albania although some are from Syria, Georgia, Romania, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Sudan. The new Greek citizens are occupied in 121 professions, with the most common (21 percent) being household help. Pension vultures Two men who attacked pensioners in Serres, northern Greece, as they withdrew money from cash machines have been arrested, police said yesterday. The two suspects are both Romanian nationals and police are looking for two of their countrymen also believed to have stolen money from pensioners in the town.
