Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-02

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Out-of-court debt settlement of business debts discussed with institutions

[02] Koumoutsakos slams defence ministry's 'dangerous frivolity' after Nicosia denies 'incident' reports

[03] Appeals court drops case against blogger who ran satirical webpage on Orthodox monk

[01] Out-of-court debt settlement of business debts discussed with institutions

According to the official, the two sides said the remission of debts towards the state and the taxman remain open and talks are continuing on a technical level. "There is no ideological gap as is the case with labour reforms," the official said.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Economy Minister Dimitri Papadimitriou and Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis represented the government.

[02] Koumoutsakos slams defence ministry's 'dangerous frivolity' after Nicosia denies 'incident' reports

"Defence ministry 'sources' talk about an incident in Cyprus and Nicosia denies this...there cannot be talk about a possible incident at a time when actions to exploit the energy reserves in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone are underway. This frivolity is now becoming dangerous," Koumoutsakos said.

Earlier, Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said that Nicosia had no information confirming reports in the Greek press about possible attempts by the Turkish military to trigger an "incident" near Cyprus in June, when the French company Total is due to start drilling for natural gas.

In statements to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Christodoulides said that Nicosia was in constant contact with the Greek government and "had no such information, nor are such claims confirmed."

He was responding to articles that appeared in the Greek press on Thursday, citing sources within the Greek defence ministry, which said the ministry expected some kind of military activity by Turkish forces when drilling begins.

[03] Appeals court drops case against blogger who ran satirical webpage on Orthodox monk

The court activated article 8 of law 4411/2016 which cancels misdemeanors committed up until March 31, 2016 and carried a sentence of up to two years in prison.

The page's creator, 32-year-old Filippos Loizos, who was convicted by a misdemeanors court in 2012. Electronic Crimes Unit initially arrested Loizos on charges of malicious blasphemy, which carries up to six months in prison, and offense against religion. The blasphemy charge was dropped but the second one persisted.

The webpage took its name from deceased Orthodox monk Eder Paisios, whose teachings and prophecies gained prominence among believers. In the webpage, Paisios's name and face were replaced with "Pastitsios," a popular Greek pasta-and-bechamel dish, to mock the alleged prophecies and exploitation of his name by religious websites. The arrest came about after Facebook told Greek authorities that Loizos was the administrator of the webpage.

Shortly before his arrest, Golden Dawn MP Christos Pappas raised the issue in parliament urging the then-ministers of citizen protection and education to "take the necessary steps" as the administrator "insults, mocks and tries to humiliate the sacred form of Greek Orthodoxy, and Elder Paisios".

The arrest triggered an outcry from supporters of Loizos and his conviction raised again the issue of freedom of expression and Greece's archaic blasphemy laws.

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