In Brief
NOVEMBER 17
Liaison between jailed terrorist suspects and lawyers to be eased Written communication between jailed November 17 suspects and their lawyers will be facilitated, it was decided yesterday during talks between the examining magistrate handling the N17 investigation, Leonidas Zervobeakos, Supreme Court prosecutor Evangelos Kroustallakis, and two other prosecutors, sources said. The meeting followed a formal complaint lodged with Zervobeakos on Wednesday by the lawyer representing alleged N17 terrorist Dionysis Georgiadis, who claimed guards at Korydallos Prison stopped him from collecting written instructions from his client. Also yesterday, Angeliki Sotiropoulou, the only female alleged terrorist currently in custody, testified from prison in connection with fresh charges of her alleged participation in N17 attacks. She denied the charges. RECYCLING EU ministers draft directive on reuse of packaging materials European Union environment ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday agreed on a directive to force countries to recycle at least half all product packaging by 2008. Under the directive, EU member-states must recycle between 55 and 80 percent of all packaging waste by December 2008. Greece, Ireland and Portugal were granted a continuation past 2008 due to extenuating circumstances. (AFP) POLICEMAN ARRESTED Accused of taking bribes from traders An Athens policeman was arrested on Wednesday night for allegedly taking bribes from Monastiraki flea market mobile phone traders in return for not checking whether the devices were stolen, police said yesterday. The officer, whose name was not made public, was also found in possession of 30 grams of hashish during a raid on his Ilioupolis flat. Conscript suicide A 19-year-old army conscript fatally shot himself early yesterday morning using his service rifle while he was on sentry duty at a military base on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, an army statement said. The artillery soldier from Piraeus, identified only as T.S. left a note explaining the reasons for his suicide, which were personal, the statement added. Bank robbery An unidentified robber, wearing a motorcycle helmet, made off with 15,000 euros yesterday after holding up a bank inside the Asklipieio Hospital in the southern Athens suburb of Voula. Yesterday’s bank robbery brings the year’s total for Attica to 87, up from 34 during all of last year. Bus accident An Athens bus driver was in hospital yesterday after he lost control of his vehicle, which was carrying no passengers, and plunged into a three-meter-deep ditch in Drafi, on the slopes of Mt Pendeli, east of Athens. Nikolaos Boukalas, 50, was in stable condition after the fall. Bird fanciers Seven Cypriot restaurant owners were charged on Wednesday with illegally serving migratory birds (a delicacy in Cyprus where they are known as «ambelopoulia») in their establishments, following police raids in Larnaca and Famagusta which unearthed hundreds of such birds ready for the pot, the Athens News Agency reported yesterday. Around 3,000 birds were confiscated from restaurants in Larnaca alone, the ANA said. The checks follow last month’s government crackdown on the killing of such birds. Forged euros Police in Serres have confiscated two forged 50-euro notes, used by two Bulgarian nationals to purchase goods in the villages of Araviskos and Rodolivos, it was announced yesterday. Zaza Aslanov, 24, and Avesalom Gvianishili, 28, were both arrested. Police in northern Greece have seized a large number of 100-, 50-, and 20-euro notes since spring. Assault Three Albanians have been arrested for the attempted murder of a Polish national in central Athens on Monday, police said yesterday. Andrea Gamo, 29, Seldzim Velkani, 33, and Naim Karepi, 22, allegedly set upon Christo Siemba with the help of two other, unidentified, Albanians. Their motives were unclear.
