In Brief
SIEMENS CASH
Parliamentary panel suggests Greece use 50 million euros The parliamentary committee investigating the Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal wrote to Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis to ask him to consider using some of the money that has been seized as part of the probe to restore any damage done to the Greek state by the electronics company’s allegedly corrupt dealings. The panel of MPs said that it was aware some 50 million euros had been frozen in Swiss bank accounts and proposed that this money be used by the government. BODY IN PARTS Gruesome find in Kallithea The dismembered body of a man, which had been stuffed into three travel bags and thrown in a dumpster in the southern Athens suburb of Kallithea, was discovered late on Tuesday. The coroner said the unidentified man was about 25 years of age and likely not Greek. Police said they are trying to discover the man’s identity. Exam cheating Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou ordered yesterday an investigation into whether her ministry played any role in allegedly covering up the extent of an exam scandal that broke last year. It emerged this week that 21 people are being charged in connection to the sale of questions for an International Baccalaureate exam last summer. Suspect held Aris Seirinidis, the man arrested with suspected «robber in black» Symeon Seisidis following a holdup near central Athens earlier this month, was remanded in custody yesterday on suspicion of armed robbery and shooting at a bus carrying riot police in July 2009. Drasi action The centrist party, Drasi, which failed to win a parliamentary seat in last year’s general election yesterday took legal action against the Communist Party-affiliated union, PAME. Drasi wants prosecutors to ascertain whether any laws were broken when PAME members recently blocked tourists’ return to a cruise ship, a number of central Athens hotels and draped banners from the Acropolis. Phone sex abuse Two inmates at Malandrino Prison in Fokida are being investigated on charges of sexually harassing underage girls over the telephone. According to police sources, one of the inmates is Asimakis Katsoulas, the leader of a satanic cult who was convicted in 1995 along with three other people of the kidnap, rape and murder of a 30-year-old woman. The other inmate was being held on manslaughter charges and has been released recently. The two men allegedly called the girls, aged 10 to 11, and pressured them into lewd acts by impersonating police officers. Subsidy scam More than 30 farmers were found to have obtained state subsidies for nonexistent cotton fields in Skourta, in the prefecture of Viotia, an area known for having non-arable land, yesterday. The discovery came after an investigation by the Ministry of Agricultural Development to ascertain the fate of farming subsidies. The farmers will be ordered to repay any monies received from the state, while a Lamia prosecutor is now looking into whether there is a case for criminal charges to be filed.
