Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-10-11

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] EACH OF THE FOUR ELA DEFENDANTS RECEIVED A PRISON SENTENCE OF 1,174

[02] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ARRIVED IN SOFIA

[03] BLOODY CAR ACCIDENT

[04] FOUR GREEK AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES

[05] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE ISSUE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

[06] MR. ROUSOPOULOS ON THE FYROM NAME

[07] MARGINAL GAINS IN THE ASE

[08] A EUROSTAT DELEGATION ARRIVES IN ATHENS ON TUESDAY

[09] DECISION ON AN INQUIRY COMMITTEE

[10] OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS TO THE ELA DEFENDANTS

[01] EACH OF THE FOUR ELA DEFENDANTS RECEIVED A PRISON SENTENCE OF 1,174 YEARS

The head judge of the Athens court that tried the terrorist group ELA case imposed heavier sentences on the four defendants, who were found guilty, than those suggested by the prosecutor.

The court sentenced each of the defendants, Christos Tsigaridas, Angeletos Kanas, Kostas Agapiou and Irini Athanasaki, to 1,174 years in prison and imposed a fine of 22,000 euros, while they will be deprived of their civil rights for 10 years.

Among others, each of the defendants received a prison sentence of 14 years for supply and possession of explosives, while they also received 18 years each for being accomplices to the killing of police deputy director Apostolos Vellios. For each one of the 48 attempted murders each defendant received a sentence of 13 years.

However, based on the way the sentences are calculated the defendants will not serve more than 25 years in prison. Meanwhile, defense lawyers have requested the suspension of the imposed sentences until the case in tried in a Court of Appeals.

[02] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ARRIVED IN SOFIA

Hellenic Republic President Kostis Stephanopoulos arrived in Sofia today for a three-day visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Parvanov

The formal welcoming ceremony was held at the St. Alexander Nievski Square in Sofia followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Unknown Soldier Monument. Afterwards, the two Presidents had a private meeting.

A wide spectrum of issues will be discussed during the visit concerning bilateral policy and economic cooperation, the NATO Partnership and the situation in the Balkans.

Forty years have passed since the signing of a package of agreements through which bilateral relations normalized mainly after the efforts made by Greek President Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Mr. Stephanopoulos will meet tomorrow with Bulgarian Orthodox Church Patriarch Maximos and then he will have a meeting with the Bulgarian Prime Minister.

[03] BLOODY CAR ACCIDENT

Three people were killed this morning when their car collided with an intercity bus carrying soldiers to Redina to participate in a military exercise. The accident happened in the Thessaloniki-Kavala motorway and immediately the car was in flames.

Traffic police and firefighters pulled out from the totally destroyed vehicle its three passengers. Fourteen soldiers and the bus driver were injured in the crash.

An investigation on the causes of the accident is underway.

[04] FOUR GREEK AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES

A total of four Greek Australian deputies were elected to the new Australian Parliament on Saturday's elections.

They are first-time elected Steve Georganas who won a seat in Hindmarsh, South Australia, Maria Vamvakinou elected in the state of Victoria, Labor Party candidate Paul Klisaris and Sophie Panopoulou with the Liberal Party also elected in the state of Victoria.

In last Saturday's elections ran a total of 18 Greek-origin candidates with different political parties.

[05] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE ISSUE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

The view of the government, as expressed by the Prime Minister, is that an effort should be made to find a presidential candidate that will enjoy the broader possible approval, stated Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos referring to the election of the new Hellenic Republic President, adding that opposition party of PASOK leader Giorgos Papandreou agrees with that position.

Asked to comment if the government will discuss its ideas on the successor of President Stephanopoulos with the opposition party, Mr. Rousopoulos pointed out that there are two practices that could be followed. Namely, the government either consults with the other political parties or it submits its consensus proposal bringing about the dialogue.

Mr. Rousopoulos added that he is not in a position to say which of the two practices the government will implement.

[06] MR. ROUSOPOULOS ON THE FYROM NAME

Greek government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos stated that the government believes that a meaningful dialogue should be held with FYROM aimed at reaching a mutually acceptable solution on the name of the neighboring country.

Mr. Rousopoulos made the statement in response to a question made by a reporter during the press briefing.

[07] MARGINAL GAINS IN THE ASE

Marginal gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to +0.09% at 2410.76 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 62,2 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, 108 had gains and 166 had losses, while the value of 130 stocks remained unchanged.

[08] A EUROSTAT DELEGATION ARRIVES IN ATHENS ON TUESDAY

A Eurostat delegation is expected to arrive in Athens on Tuesday to be briefed on the way economic data in the period 2000-2003 were being recorded. Eurostat has discovered a deficit of 8,7 billion euros stemming from defense spending not recorded in the 1997-2003 state budgets.

Governing party of New Democracy acting government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros had stated last Friday that the opposition party of PASOK had systematically altered the indexes of the economy in the past few years when it was in power and this was repeatedly noted in formal Eurostat reports.

[09] DECISION ON AN INQUIRY COMMITTEE

The proposals made by governing party of New Democracy and opposition party of PASOK for the establishment of a 24-member inquiry committee to examine the cases concerning the military armaments supplies will be discussed in Parliament tomorrow.

The committee will be presided over by Parliament vice-president Ioannis Tragakis, while vice-president will be Ioannis Giannelis and Andreas Likourezos will be the committee secretary.

A total of 9 PASOK Parliament deputies will participate in the committee among them, Evangelos Venizelos and Andreas Loverdos, while Anna Diamantopoulou asked not to be included.

The Communist Party and Coalition of the Left each will have one Parliament deputy in the inquiry committee.

[10] OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS TO THE ELA DEFENDANTS

A total of over one thousand years were imposed on the terrorist group ELA defendants by an Athens court, while the prosecutor had asked for 972 years.

The head judge is expected to announce the sentences that will be imposed on defendants Christos Tsigaridas, Angeletos Kanas, Kostas Agapiou and Irini Athanasaki who were found guilty of a total of 94 capital offences.

Meanwhile, the request submitted by Angeletos Kanas' lawyer for the exemption of prosecutor Eleftherios Patsis has been rejected.

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