Sparring between gov’t and judiciary continues with new Polakis jab
The sparring between the government and the Greek judiciary continued on Wednesday with a fresh jab from Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis who criticized a court ruling against a 28-year-old woman convicted on terrorism charges.
Polakis was responding to a court decision earlier this week to reject an appeal by the woman, known in the local media as Irianna, against a 13-year jail sentence for being part of Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire guerrilla group.
The court's reasoning had referred to visits by her and her boyfriend, another terrorism convict, to cities such as Barcelona, which it described as "a city in Spain which is known for the activities of equivalent terrorist organizations."
In a post on his Facebook account, Polakis remarked, "I went to Barcelona in 2001 as part of a paneuropean [conference] on intensive therapy (the mornings at the conference, nights in groups of 10, the Basques trained us in urban guerrilla warfare in Barceloneta) ARREST US !!!!"
The outburst was the latest in a series by Polakis and other government officials against Greek judges.
In a statement, the union representing Greek hospital workers, POEDIN, called on Polakis to "leave the judges alone and focus on hospitals."
