In Brief
TERRORISM CASES
Four more suspects remanded; 11 minors face serious charges Four people arrested last weekend on terrorism charges were remanded in custody yesterday after appearing before an investigating magistrate. Styliani Antoniou, Christos Politis, Giorgos Karagiannidis and Dimitris Michail joined two other suspects, Alexandros Mitrousias and Constantinos Sakkas, in Korydallos Prison. Mitrousias and Sakkas had testified on Tuesday. According to sources, Mitrousias, Sakkas and Karagiannidis responded to the charges lodged against them while the other three denied any involvement in terrorist activities. In a related development, 11 people charged with terrorism offenses following their arrest during the December 2008 riots in Athens faced a juvenile court in Larissa yesterday. The nine boys and two girls had been secondary school students at the time of their arrest. CHRISTMAS PENSIONS Yuletide bonus to be 400 euros The government confirmed yesterday that pensioners over the age of 60 will receive a Christmas bonus of only 400 euros this year due to spending cuts. The measure only applies to pensioners whose monthly retirement pay is under 2,500 euros. Those who receive more will not be paid any bonus. FYROM ‘PR stunt ‘ Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras yesterday condemned the leak of the contents of a letter sent to Minister Dimitris Droutsas by his counterpart in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Antonio Milososki, describing it as a «public relations stunt.» According to extracts of the letter made public in the FYROM press, Milososki requested the support of Athens for Skopje in its bid to join the European Union ahead of a summit of EU leaders scheduled for December 16 and 17. Responding to reporters’ questions, Delavekouras said, «The way that the letter was forwarded suggests that it serves as a public relations stunt and not a proposal of substance.» ISAP disruption Services on the section of the Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) between Irini and Kifissia will be suspended between 11 p.m. and the end of the regular shift tomorrow as maintenance works get under way, ISAP’s management said yesterday. The last train will leave Kifissia at 10.45 p.m. Passengers are reminded that the section between Monastiraki and Attiki remains out of service due to ongoing works. Ioannina burglaries Police in northwestern Greece yesterday sought the help of their counterparts in Albania after two robbers, believed to be Albanian nationals, broke into a house in the village of Plikati in the prefecture of Ioannina, locked the 72-year-old owner in a room and stole an estimated 17,000 euros in cash. The victim told police she recognized one of the robbers as an Albanian farmhand who was occasionally employed at a village near the border. The two robbers are believed to have crossed the border back into Albania after the robbery. Xenia demolition A court in Iraklio, Crete, yesterday cleared 34 people, including Mayor Yiannis Kourakis and the general secretary of the region, Athanasios Karountzos, of any wrongdoing in connection to the demolition of the defunct Xenia hotel in 2003.
