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The Island Fighting for a New Greece by Dina Kyriakidou KASTELORIZO, June 7, 2013

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The Island Fighting for a New Greece by Dina Kyriakidou KASTELORIZO, June 7, 2013 GREECE ALL AT SEA: Pavlos Panigyris, the suspended mayor of Kastelorizo, sits by the island’s harbour. After years of running the local community, he is to go on trial for alleged corruption. He denies any wrongdoing. REUTERS/YORGOS KARAHALIS Locals on a tiny Greek island have risen up against their long-standing mayor. They hope it reflects a wider change in attitudes to the country’s political elite The island fighting for a new Greece BY DINA KYriakidoU KASTELORIZO, JUNE 7, 2013 hen George Papandreou declared Greece This speck at the easternmost corner of Europe was effectively bankrupt in April 2010, has become a symbol of Greece’s struggle to con- Wthe former prime minister chose to do front old ills and build a better future. The country’s so standing by the sparkling harbour waters of economic crisis has spurred inhabitants of the island, Kastelorizo, a remote Aegean island. It has turned population 350, to challenge the political elite that out to be a fitting backdrop. ruled Kastelorizo for 18 years. SPECIAL REPORT 1 GREECE ISLAND REVOLT In recent months complaints about widespread graft and poor infrastructure - flaws many observers say led to Greece’s general collapse after decades of foreign- fed affluence - have boiled over. The island’s mayor, Pavlos Panigyris, has been suspend- ed by Greece’s general secretary for the Aegean region, pending trial later this year on criminal charges of corruption brought by a public prosecutor. Panigyris, who won repeated elections by wide margins, denies any wrongdoing. He told Reuters that allegations of embez- zlement and fraud are the result of a ven- detta by his enemies. If acquitted, he plans to return to office. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. For many of the inhabitants of this Greek microcosm, the suspension reflects a change in attitude to illicit practices across the country that have been widely known but rarely discussed. After decades in which graft by the authorities was often covered up, a few politicians are facing justice. In Thessaloniki, Greece’s second biggest city, former mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos HIGH TURNOVER: In recent years about 500 properties have changed hands on the island, which has was sentenced to life in prison in February only 350 permanent inhabitants but attracts tourists in the summer. REUTERS/YORGOS KARAHALIS for embezzling almost 18 million euros ($23.4 million) of public funds. He protested his innocence, but was jailed along with two they must have be accidental. And taverna connections were established, Kastelorizo other senior officials of the city. owner Vangelis Mavros said Panigyris was experienced a minor tourist boom. The In Athens, former defence minister Akis a good mayor. “Sometimes, if you don’t vote 1991 Oscar-winning Italian movie Tsohatzopoulos is on trial for money laun- for him he fights you, but I don’t believe the Mediterraneo was filmed on the island, dering. Other politicians are under criminal charges against him,” he said. bringing more visitors. Property prices be- investigation as the heavily-indebted coun- On the island, just as in wider Greece, gan to pick up as nostalgic Cazzies explored try faces pressure to reform its economy challenges to entrenched interests and the their roots and Italians sought to buy a slice and its legal system begins to take a tougher existing system remain finely balanced. of Mediterraneo. line on corruption. But buyers and sellers faced a significant LAND GRABS “The economic crisis has touched the problem, one that lawyers and state officials judicial body and they no longer tolerate Kastelorizo was once home to 12,000 peo- say is typical of Greece as a whole. There political intervention (in legal cases),” said ple, its deep port making it a busy shipping was no reliable or easily searchable registry Maritsa Mayafi, 52, a Kastelorizo restau- hub. But World War Two took a heavy toll, of land ownership. rateur whose family is locked in numerous leaving the island almost deserted - just part Greece received subsidies from the disputes with the former mayor. “We hope of the devastation of Greece after Nazi occu- European Union in the 1980s to create the same happens here.” pation. Many islanders joined a wave of emi- an authoritative system for recording land Panigyris does have supporters. Acting gration to the west, in particular to Australia, ownership, but is still struggling to put to- mayor Giorgos Achladiotis said he believed where they call themselves Cazzies. gether a reliable register. that if any illegalities had been committed, In the 1980s, when regular air and ship On Kastelorizo, as elsewhere, some SPECIAL REPORT 2 GREECE ISLAND REVOLT people took advantage of a law that allows anyone to claim ownership of a plot of un- Frontier of change used land by presenting two witnesses to The island of Kastelorizo, the country’s easternmost point, support their claim and obtaining a tax cer- is emblematic of Greece’s struggle to confront old ills tificate verifying ownership of the property from a mayor or municipal authority. BULGARIA MACEDONIA Panagiotis Palaiologos, a retired Rhodes Istanbul lawyer who has won property back for ALBANIA Australian owners in court, says the spirit of the law is abused. “The method is simple GREECE - you get two witnesses to sign a paper say- TURKEY Town ing your family owned a piece of property Athens for a long time and then you go to a notary Megisti and register (the property) in your name.” Airport He said many properties in Kastelorizo had Kastelorizo Rhodes been claimed in this way. In the past five years about 500 property 100 miles 0.5 miles Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean Sea titles have changed hands on the island, ac- 100 km 0.5 km cording to paper records on the island of Rhodes, which is the administrative centre of the region. The number is extraordinary for a tiny island that survives on state sub- to the island. The charges of forgery were “How did this happen? All of a sudden sidies and a few months of tourism each dismissed. they own all this land around me?” he asked. summer, say local residents. The forestry department claims the dis- It is not clear whether any of that land is in- The state land authority and the for- puted property and the whole area around it volved in the legal case against the mayor. estry department in Rhodes have had sev- are state land. The department says the plot Panigyris vehemently denied accusa- eral cases pending over the past few years has ended up being owned by Panigyris’ tions he and his family have acquired doz- against the former mayor and others for mother; it is pursuing legal action to try to ens of pieces of property. He said he de- allegedly claiming land they did not own. cancel her ownership deed. clares five properties on his tax form. One strange case concerns a small piece of Panigyris, who spoke on behalf of his moth- “Look, some land has been sold but waterfront land that the local council attempt- er, said this is a misunderstanding, explaining it’s not an industry, let’s not get crazy,” ed to give in 1996 to the New Democracy that she owns land next to the disputed lot. Panigyris said, sitting in the municipal of- politician, Dimitris Avramopoulos, then Some Kastelorizo locals say Panigyris fices, despite his suspension, and ordering mayor of Athens and now foreign minister in has managed to amass a surprising amount a secretary to make copies of documents the current Greek government. of property while mayor; one is Antonis during an interview with Reuters. “Will we In 2006, a national TV programme aired Patiniotis, who owns a sea taxi. He walked have a witch hunt? Some people exploited papers allegedly showing Avramopoulos around his yard pointing to several pieces the law, that’s the truth. My father died a had requested the land. He denied this ve- of nearby property he says are now owned poor man, he had no money, I’m not lying. hemently and pressed charges of forgery by the suspended mayor’s family. My family, like all Kastelorizians, took ad- against unknown persons. Avramopoulos vantage of this law.” declined to comment for this article. Nevertheless, he maintained he and his Panigyris took the blame for the inci- We have urgent problems, family have done nothing wrong. He says dent. He told Reuters he appeared at a pre- such as sewage, finishing a road, his wealth is derived from state subsidies trial hearing, assumed responsibility for the getting a doctor. This is the worst for agriculture and tourism - amounting documents and explained they were a well- moment of my life. to 360,000 euros - which helped him build intentioned mistake. He said the purpose rooms for rent. of the land deal had been to show grati- Giorgos Achladiotis In the eyes of his opponents, Panigyris tude to a fellow mayor for his great help Kastelorizo’s acting mayor has survived previous legal challenges SPECIAL REPORT 3 GREECE ISLAND REVOLT partly because of his political connec- Panigyris says the municipality has 1.17 Athens knew what was tions and influence. Local council member million euros in bank accounts, he says he going on on Kastelorizo like George Papoutsis, who has led the charge has not turned over the accounts to the act- Brussels knew what was going against the suspended mayor, said: “It’s ing mayor. As a result, the acting mayor is on in Greece all these years, but clear he (Panigyris) has political support struggling to pay bills and salaries. turned a blind eye.
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