NEWS

In Brief

Mylonas abduction

Prosecutor seeks guilty verdicts for all three suspects A public prosecutor yesterday recommended to a Thessaloniki court that the three suspects accused of taking part in the abduction of local industrialist Giorgos Mylonas in June 2008 should all be found guilty. Vangelis Chrysochoidis, Polykarpos Georgiadis and Asimakis Lazaridis are accused of being three of the four suspects that held Mylonas hostage for 13 days, releasing him only after a ransom of 10.8 million euros had been paid. The other suspect is Vassilis Palaiocostas, one of Greece’s most wanted men, who escaped from Korydallos Prison last year. Lazaridis has confessed to his part in the kidnap but Georgiadis and Lazaridis said that they simply ran errands for Palaiocostas and did not abduct Mylonas. Evros risk River rises above safety level Local authorities in the northern prefecture of Evros were on alert yesterday after the waters of the Evros River rose above the upper safety level. There were fears that the waters, swollen by heavy rain over the past couple of days, will rise further if there is more rainfall or if snowmelt from the mountains of Bulgaria flows into the river that also winds through part of the neighboring country. The level of the Evros River reached 4.81 meters in the village of Pithio and 4.50 meters in Kipoi. Both measurements are several centimeters above the safety level. In other parts of northern Greece, heavy rainfall flooded homes and stores and caused damage to crops in some areas. Police attacked An officer of the police motorcycle patrol squad sustained minor injuries yesterday afternoon when he and a colleague were set upon by a group of youths outside the Athens University of Economics and Business. The two officers had gone to the location after a resident called to report someone attempting to break into a car. As it turned out, the supposed break-in was in fact a motorist trying to get into his own car after having lost the keys. When the officers arrived at the scene, they were attacked by 10 youths wearing motorcycle helmets who pelted them with stones and other objects. The attackers managed to elude arrest. Bouncing checks Three businessmen from Larissa, central Greece, are suspected of issuing a number of bad checks worth between 15,000 and 45,000 euros to suppliers from various parts of Greece, police said yesterday. It is not clear how many dud checks have been issued by the trio, who are partners in the same company, but police said they bought a range of goods, including electrical items, from suppliers who have now taken legal action to recover their money. Car break-ins A 24-year-old Greek man is believed to be behind a string of 47 break-ins targeting parked cars in Thessaloniki, police said. The suspect is alleged to have carried out the break-ins between July 2008 and May 2009, netting a large sum of cash and various valuables including car radios and jewelry. Armed robbery Police in Thessaloniki yesterday were seeking two armed robbers who held up a branch of Hellenic Postbank in the district of Polichni. The pair fled with an undetermined sum without causing any injuries.

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