Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-02-14

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] INVESTIGATION ON THE CAUSES OF THE AVALANCHE ACCIDENT

[02] THE HOLY SYNOD MEETS TODAY

[03] THE CLEANUP IN THE JUSTICE SECTOR IS UNDERWAY

[04] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE CHINOOK CRASH

[05] ROUSOPOULOS: THE CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS ARE NOT SHAKEN

[06] TWO "SEA RAY" CREWMEMBERS ARE MISSING

[01] INVESTIGATION ON THE CAUSES OF THE AVALANCHE ACCIDENT

The responsible authorities in Greece have launched an investigation on the exact causes of yesterday's tragedy at the skiing resort at Mount Menalon in Arcadia, southern Greece.

An avalanche killed 5 mount climbers, 3 men and 2 women, while other 6 were slightly injured and taken to the Tripoli Hospital.

It all started on Sunday morning when a group of 32 people, members of the Athens Mount Climbing Association, arrived at the skiing center of Menalo. Twenty-eight of them departed on a climbing expedition in the area, while other 4 remained at the skiing center. The tragic incident was recorded at noon yesterday when the 28 skiers were buried under the snow at a region called Diaselo.

Most of them managed to climb out of the snow without the help of the rescue teams but 5 of them were found dead.

[02] THE HOLY SYNOD MEETS TODAY

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece meets today under Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece under the shadow of accusations targeting many priests.

The Archbishop, whose popularity is on the decline according to recent opinion polls, wants the Greek Orthodox Church Hierarchy to meet by the end of February, a proposal he is expected to make today to the members of the Holy Synod on the sidelines of which the Archbishop will have new contacts with Metropolites.

The hierarchs expressed discontent about the pressures exerted for a Church cleanup.

Democracy has by itself the ability to proceed with reform, stated Hellenic Republic President Kostis Stephanopoulos commenting on all that takes place lately in the Church and the sector of Justice.

[03] THE CLEANUP IN THE JUSTICE SECTOR IS UNDERWAY

The Supreme Court will appoint a special examiner tomorrow to handle the cases concerning corrupt judges, while the Supreme Court deputy prosecutor opens a criminal investigation on the case of examiner Antonia Elia, who appears to be the main figure in the network that acted on behalf of Archimandrite Iakovos Giosakis.

First Instance Court judge Leonidas Stathis is the first to receive an indictment on bribery charges.

First Instance Court judge Panagiota Tsevi will be called to give explanations to the responsible Supreme Court bodies on Wednesday facing permanent dismissal from the judiciary.

[04] THE GOV'T SPOKESMAN ON THE CHINOOK CRASH

An investigation is still underway to determine the causes of the Chinook helicopter crash off the coasts of Mount Athos, northern Greece, last September that killed a total of 17 people, among them, Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria.

The Army General Staff and the Air Force have already mentioned that the collision of the helicopter with an aircraft flying 11 kilometers higher is unlikely, stated government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos responding to a question on the Athens daily O Kosmos tou Ependiti press report.

He stressed that it is a very serious issue, the investigation is underway and therefore, he will avoid comments just to create impressions, adding that the final findings of the investigation will be made public.

[05] ROUSOPOULOS: THE CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS ARE NOT SHAKEN

Government spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos refused to comment on the statement made by Metropolite Kallinikos in response to the statements made by acting government spokesman Vangelis Antonaros on the issue of the Church reform, stressing that the government's position is the one presented by the Prime Minister to the Parliament deputies of ruling party of New Democracy last week.

Asked to comment on whether the Church-State relations have been shaken, he gave a negative response and stressed that the government will support every cleanup initiative undertaken by the Church.

Mr. Rousopoulos said that the cleanup effort is in progress and everybody hopes for a very good result for the good of society. He also said that there is no scheduled meeting between the Prime Minister and the Archbishop.

[06] TWO "SEA RAY" CREWMEMBERS ARE MISSING

Investigation continues aimed at locating the two foreign crewmembers of the cargo ship Sea Ray, under St. Vincent flag, that sunk west of the island of Elafonisos north of Crete, southern Aegean, in the early morning hours today.

Eight of the ship's 10 crewmembers were picked up from the sea, all them Ukrainians.

The ship sent out a distress signal and a C-130 transport plane and a Super Puma helicopter immediately took off, while all ships sailing in the region were notified of the emergency.

The ship was en route to Libya carrying containers and had set sail from Turkey.

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