Ex-minister to take claims about death threats from SYRIZA members to prosecutor

Former Citizens’ Protection Minister Yiannis Panousis has told Kathimerini he will submit evidence to a prosecutor on Monday that backs up his claim he was threatened by SYRIZA officials while he was a member of the previous cabinet.

Panousis claimed in an interview with Proto Thema newspaper on Sunday that “politicians that have ties with terrorists are threatening my life.”

He alleged that members of SYRIZA’s central committee with links to jailed members of urban guerrilla groups made the threats in connection to legislation that would affect how long the terrorists spend behind bars.

Panousis said that he submitted what he knows to a notary in case something should happen to him. He also claimed that the National Intelligence Service (EYP) has information that back up his claims and that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was made aware of the threats several months ago.

Responding to the allegations on Sunday, the prime minister’s office called on Panousis to hand over any evidence he has to judicial authorities as they are “too serious to trawl around the media.”

Speaking to Kathimerini, the ex-minister said the information he will hand over to Supreme Court prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani will show that he was being threatened since April.

He also told journalists that he feels a statement published on the Indymedia website on Sunday backs up his claims. The text, signed by a group supporting the rights of “political prisoners,” references the transfer of people being held as witnesses in the trial of members of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire urban guerrilla group and alleges that Panousis’s “provocative” claims are an attempt to cover up abuses of inmate’s rights.