Greece: Ex-Defence Minister Jailed For Corruption

A former defence minister has been jailed for eight years by a Greek court for lying on his income statements and concealing a lavish lifestyle.

The conviction of Akis Tzohatzopoulos marks the second ruling against a Greek politician in as many weeks as part of what government officials call a "crusade" to stamp out decades of corruption and cronyism.

Once a powerful socialist politician who came within reach of becoming prime minister in the 1990s, Tzohatzopoulos will serve his sentence in Korydallos - the country's maximum-security prison.

He was also fined 520,000 euros (£447,000) for failing to declare a neo-classical mansion on the foot of the Acropolis when he purchased it in 2009.

Within hours of the ruling, the townhouse was seized by the state and the politician stripped of his voting rights for four years.

Deemed by authorities to be a flight risk, the 73-year-old has been jailed since April pending trial as prosecutors probed a series of allegations linked to fraudulent wealth he acquired while serving in key government posts in the 1990s.

He faces a separate criminal trial in May for allegedly accepting and then laundering 8m euros (£6.8m) in kickbacks in a scandal-marred defence deal which has Greece paying billions for faulty submarines.

Denying wrongdoing, Tsohatzopoulos claimed he was the victim of a political ploy outside the Athens courtroom.

He said: "Unfortunately not only was democracy not served but it was covered up, as the truth and reality.

"This leads to legal failure."

The case, which has captivated Greek people who blame much of the country's financial mess on feckless and corrupt politicians, comes weeks after another court sentenced former Thessaloniki mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos to life imprisonment for embezzling millions of euros from the state coffers.

The convictions could bode badly for another politician, former finance minister George Papaconstantinou, who is accused of removing the names of his relatives from a list of alleged tax evaders.

A congressional committee has until March 29 to issue its findings, expected to be the most damning against a high-profile politician in decades.