Mayo case dead, fight still warm
A senior Athens prosecutor yesterday confirmed July’s decision to shelve an investigation into allegations by the ruling Socialists of a funding scandal involving opposition New Democracy. The conservatives promptly demanded an apology from PASOK. But PASOK General Secretary Costas Laliotis – who repeatedly aired the allegations last year, prompting the probe – claimed the investigation «besmirched» the main opposition party, and offered a warning to the prosecutor who shelved the case due to lack of supporting evidence. «Members of the judiciary should know that, in a democracy, judges too are judged,» he said in a statement. «And that is very, very important.» «Despite the prosecutor’s decision, there is the political stain besmirching New Democracy due to its dealings and shady relations with financial interests,» Laliotis added. He had claimed that ND received funding through an offshore Liberian firm called Mayo Investment Corp. ND spokesman Thodoris Roussopoulos said the decision was a slap in the face of «those who have equated their political career with lies, slander and mud-slinging.»
