In Brief
STRIKE ACTION
Eleven charged with violence, ADEDY calls rally for Tuesday Eleven youths, including a minor, faced a prosecutor yesterday after their alleged involvement in violence that marred Thursday’s demonstration in Athens by some 30,000 workers protesting the government’s austerity measures. Five of the young men face criminal charges of grievous bodily harm and illegal weapons possession. The civil servants’ union, which claims its members have been unfairly targeted by the measures, yesterday called another protest rally for Tuesday. BOMB HOAX Police cordon off Parliament Police cordoned off the road around Parliament yesterday after an anonymous caller phoned in a warning that a bomb had been planted at a florist’s shop adjacent to the Parliament building. Bomb disposal experts found no suspect devices. On January 9, a bomb exploded outside Parliament, causing minor damage but no injuries. Vatopedi paper chase All the documents kept by the Agricultural Development Ministry relating to the controversial property exchange between the state and the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos have disappeared, it was alleged yesterday. Speaking to Skai TV, the ministry’s general secretary Giorgos Kanellopoulos claimed that the documents, some 1,500 in total, had been taken by the former head of the land department Stamatina Manteli. Kanellopoulos said that Manteli, who is a suspect in the allegedly corrupt deal, took the papers when she left her job at the ministry. Turkish provocations Turkish authorities sent radar warnings to two aircraft in the eastern Aegean yesterday, Greek defense officials said. The first warning was sent to a Greek Super Puma rescue helicopter which had been flying over the island of Oinousses. The second was sent to a Polish aircraft participating in a patrol of the eastern Aegean organized by Frontex, the European Union’s border monitoring agency. Both pilots ignored the warnings and continued their missions. OA protest Former employees of Olympic Air were last night locked in talks aimed at ending a payoff dispute that has kept the General Accounting Office closed for more than a week. The protesters, who had also closed Panepistimiou Street in central Athens, are demanding that the government sign a decision taken by the previous New Democracy administration that would secure them another job in the public sector or a generous payoff. Glezos apology The 22-year-old riot police officer who sprayed tear gas at the World War II resistance hero Manolis Glezos during a protest last Friday met the 87-year-old yesterday to apologize. The officer, who was not named, was accompanied by the head of the riot police squad Spyros Papaspyros. Glezos suggested that cadets should be given history lessons as part of their training and agreed to deliver two speeches to trainee riot policemen. Greens lose Panathinaikos suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Standard Liege late on Thursday in the first leg of the round of 16 of soccer’s Europa League, making the Belgian side favorite to advance to the quarterfinals.
