GREECE
Kathimerini
An Athens prosecutor was instructed yesterday to bring criminal charges against a medium-ranking judge suspected of involvement in a trial-fixing ring made up of members of the judiciary and the Orthodox clergy.
The process was launched against court of first instance president Evangelos Kaloussis, who testified yesterday before Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas in connection with allegations he took bribes to issue favorable decisions and sexually exploited young immigrant women.
A second key trial-fixing suspect, Archimandrite Iakovos Yiossakis, gave testimony at the same time to Supreme Court judge Christos Baltas. ...
In a claim that would clear the name of Archbishop Christodoulos — who denies any link with the disgraced priest — Yiossakis also maintained that he had pressed Theoklitos, Bishop of Thessaliotis, (who has been forced to resign) to ask the Church of Greece leader to give him a plum Church job. It is understood that the prospect of Yiossakis getting the job, which would normally have eventually secured him a bishopric, drove senior churchmen to leak stories to the press that prompted the trial-fixing investigation.
Posted by kshaw at March 10, 2005 08:26 AM