In Brief
AGROGI AFFAIR
Prosecutor to probe minister’s claims of illegal hirings Athens Court of First Instance prosecutor Eleni Raikou yesterday ordered a preliminary investigation into claims by Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos regarding allegedly illegal hirings made by Agrogi SA, a company set up by the Agriculture Ministry under the previous conservative administration. The probe has been undertaken by prosecutor Evangelos Ioannidis. Pangalos’s claims that New Democracy deputies appointed relatives and acquaintances to Agrogi prompted furious denials by ND cadres on televised debates last week. EXPAT WIN European ruling backs voters Greeks living abroad may find voting in Greek elections easier following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday that ruled in favor of two Greeks whose request to vote at the Greek Embassy in Paris during parliamentary elections in 2007 had been denied due a lack of polling stations at embassies and consulates. Nikolaos Sitaropoulos and Christos Giakoumopoulos, both employees of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, were awarded 2,000 euros each in damages by the court, which said that «the lack of legislative implementation in respect of expatriates’ voting rights was likely to constitute unfair treatment of Greek citizens living abroad.» Murder confession A 37-year-old Georgian woman was arrested yesterday after allegedly confessing to the murder of a 70-year-old compatriot earlier this year. Police said the woman admitted to stabbing the elderly victim, who had been in the business of providing high-interest loans to fellow Georgians, when the older woman demanded the repayment of a loan. The victim’s body was found in a plastic garbage bag next to a dumpster in Petralona on May 18. J-Lo cancels Pop icon Jennifer Lopez on Thursday announced that she has canceled an appearance scheduled for July 24 in the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus. «Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse,» a representative for the American singer told entertainment website TMZ.com on Thursday. Robbers nabbed Two men, aged 22 and 30, were charged on Wednesday with a string of armed robberies after the police’s motorcycle-riding DIAS squad discovered them transporting two Kalashnikov assault rifles, a handgun, a sledgehammer, gloves and helmets in their car. Police believe the pair had been on their way to rob a bank in Dafni, southeastern Athens, when they were stopped. Turkish violations Athens lodged a complaint with the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara late on Wednesday after Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space over the Aegean for the first time in weeks. According to the Greek armed forces, two formations of eight aircraft entered the Athens Flight Information Region twice on Wednesday afternoon, flying over the island of Agathonisi. A formation of Greek fighter jets was dispatched to chase off the Turkish planes.
