Former Greek defense minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who has been detained in jail for nearly a year and was just sentenced to an eight-year termĀ for failing to disclose his wealth while he awaits trial on more serious charges, has accused the New Democracy Conservative and the PASOK Socialist parties of trying to hide their their own responsibilities for corruption in military procurements.
In a five-page letter responding to a decision last week to indict him and 18 others for accepting bribes and money laundering, the ex-minister said he was being made a scapegoat. āUnfortunately, neither the justice system, nor PASOK and New Democracy wanted to learn the truth,ā he said.
He has made the same accusations a number of times along with threatening to reveal alleged widespread corruption in both parties and the government but never has. He was a stalwart for decades in the PASOK party before being booted out. He’s accused of taking as much as one billion euros ($1.3 billion) from defense contracts, charges which he has denied. The government has confiscated a mansion he and his wife owned under the Acropolis. She’s also being detained in connection with the case.
In another case, prosecutors were reported to be studying a report in the newspaper Eleftherotypia which accused ex-Environment Minister George Papaconstantinou of blocking a Greek company from mining for zeolite, a mineral with many commercial uses, in Thrace while he was in office. The newspaper alleged that the ex-ministerās cousin, Eleni Papaconstantinou, was on the board of a company that imported zeolite from Bulgaria.
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