In Brief
PRISON WATCH
Jail staff warned about possible inmate protests starting today Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis yesterday warned prosecutors and prison officials to be on their guard. Although the minister did not explain why he called for caution, it is thought that authorities have received information about possible protests by prisoners at several jails. Authorities believe that the prisoners have coordinated their actions via mobile phones. They are likely to be protesting against overcrowding and the failure to offer community service as an alternative to jail terms. POLICEMAN CRITICAL Officer hurt in grenade accident A policeman was in critical condition in an Athens hospital yesterday after a stun grenade attached to his belt went off by accident. The grenade exploded when the officer, who was not named, was on duty on the corner of Tositsa and Bouboulinas streets in central Athens in the early hours of Saturday morning. He was taken to an army hospital where he underwent emergency surgery on his stomach. Fountas dies Thespian and film actor Giorgos Fountas has died at the age of 85, it was reported yesterday. Fountas, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, had roles in two of Greek cinema’s most critically acclaimed films, «The Magic City,» directed by Nikos Koundouros, and «Stella,» directed by Michael Cacoyannis. His funeral is due to take place tomorrow at Athens’s First Cemetery. Fatal plunge A 37-year-old man drowned after driving his car off a jetty in the village of Nea Moudania in Halkidiki on Saturday. It was not clear what caused him to drive his car into the sea. Abandoned cars Piraeus municipal police will begin towing away abandoned cars in the area this week. It is estimated that there are hundreds of such vehicles in Piraeus. The effort will center on freeing up more parking space in Piraeus’s commercial district ahead of the Christmas shopping period. Robin Hood raiders Some 1,500 people took part in a protest in Larissa, central Greece, on Saturday demanding the release of four local students arrested earlier this year for stealing products from a super market and then giving them away to other residents in one of several so-called Robin Hood raids. The students are due to go on trial on December 1. Ship rescued A cargo vessel that suffered engine failure off the cost of Kythera on Saturday was pulled to safety in Laconia, in the Peleponnese, yesterday. The 10-member crew on board the ship, transporting wood from Montenegro to Egypt, were all safe. Murder suspected Police in Patra believe that a man, whose body was found in a field on Saturday, was murdered. Officers said that the 53-year-old, who had been missing for five days, had been struck on the head. His car was found near the field. Migrant run over An Afghan immigrant who was hit by a truck as he attempted to cross a road in Patra on Saturday died from his injuries yesterday. Authorities did not name the migrant.
