Ex-minister submits evidence following claims of death threats from SYRIZA members

Former Citizens’ Protection Minister Yiannis Panousis submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday recordings of conversations made by the secret services as well as the names of SYRIZA politicians he claims made threats to his life.

Panousis handed the evidence to back up the claims he made in a newspaper interview over the weekend to prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani.

The former minister told journalists he believes that the information he submitted is enough to result in criminal charges being brought against those involved.

Panousis alleges that several SYRIZA officials with links to urban guerrilla groups made threats to him while he was a member of the cabinet in connection to the treatment of terrorists in prison.

“The political system cannot lance the cancer so now it’s the turn of the justice system,” he said.

Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos also called on the prosecutor to cast light on the allegations. The minister suggested that he was not convinced by the claims.

“Based on what I have read, I cannot make out what is an allegation about actual events, a political evaluation, the voice of the criminologist or a book of fiction,” he said.

Paraskevopoulos said that he had also received threats in the past but had never concerned himself about them as he is guarded by the police.

The justice minister also said that he did not recall disagreeing with Panousis over the non-inclusion in draft legislation of a provision that would have given convicted terrorists more lenient treatment.