Former PASOK minister Michalis Karchimakis, who is being charged in connection with a wiretapping scandal that showed the telephones of former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and his cabinet were being listened to, has been released on one million euros bail and ordered not to leave the country.
The probe began after the wiretap was uncovered in 2005 and led to charges being brought against Karchimakis, who has denied any involvement or wrongdoing.
During a police search of the former minister’s residence, officers discovered classified documents belonging to the Greek Intelligence Service, EYP, following allegations by an EYP agent that the former minister had requested the data in 2006.
Karchimakis said the documents had arrived at his office inside an envelope from an anonymous source in 2007 and that he had subsequently used the information to ask questions in Parliament.
He said the accusations are politically motivated but didn’t specify who he thought was behind them. His attorney asked for the bail to be reduced, saying that the terms imposed by the court were excessive.
“Perhaps with the views which I courageously, steadfastly and stubbornly expressed, I disturbed certain people and made enemies,” said Karchimakis, calling himself a patriot.
PASOK defended him and issued a statement that said there had been no misuse of public funds, while speaking of “conspiracy theories which are an insult to common sense.” There was no explanation what that meant.
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