Court rebuffs appeal by convicted crime boss

An Athens court on Wednesday rejected the appeals of convicted crime boss Panayiotis Vlastos and another 14 people against their convictions for the kidnapping of shipowner Pericles Panagopoulos in January 2009.

The appeals trial, which began three years ago, is to end officially on Monday, when judges will announce any amendments to the convicts’ sentences. Vlastos, 46, has been in and out of prison for the past two decades.