Sartzetakis Christos

Born in 1929 in Thessaloniki, he studied Law at the university of his birthplace and accessed the Judicature in 1955. In May 1963 he took up as judge in the court of the first instance, the interrogation in the case of the murder of Grigoris Lambrakis, MP of the United Democratic Left. Despite the pressure he suffered from the office, he contributed the most to the clearing of the case.

In 1965 he was sent with a state scholarship to Paris to study Comparative Law, but the military dictatorship, imposed on Greece in 1967, called him back in Athens. On the 29th May 1968 he was dismissed from the Judicature, prosecuted and sentenced in prison for a year. He was released in 1971 under the pressure of the international public opinion.

After the political changeover he rejoined the Judicature. In 1981 he became President of the court of appeal and a year later he was promoted to the Supreme Court of Justice. In 1985 after a proposal by PASOK, the Greek Parliament elected him as President of the Hellenic Republic by 180 votes, on the 29th of March, to succeed Constantinos Karamanlis who in return succeeded him 5 years later.