SEX, SUICIDE, AND DVDS: SCANDAL IN GREECE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000023

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2018
TAGS: PGOV GR
SUBJECT: SEX, SUICIDE, AND DVDS: SCANDAL IN GREECE


Classified By: A/Political Counselor Jeff Hovenier for 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) PM Karamanlis' much-touted anti-corruption campaign is
under heavy fire from the opposition following eruption of a
scandal involving former Culture Ministry Secretary General
and Karamanlis confidant Christos Zahopoulos, who resigned in
mid-December then attempted suicide by throwing himself from
the balcony of his fourth-floor apartment. Overseeing
Greece's Central Archeological Council (CAC),Zahopoulos
stood at the top of the agency responsible for, among other
things, issuing construction permits for properties touching
on archeological sites -- a decision p purportedly
possessed a salacious DVD depicting her and Zahopoulos in
compromising situations, but it is unclear whether the
alleged blackmail hinged on sexual improprieties or
corruption at the CAC; Tsekou's lawyers have stated publicly,
however, that Tsekou admits to having had an affair with
Zahopoulos. It later emerged that Karamanlis' press
secretary, Yannis Adrianos, had received a copy of the DVD

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prior to the suicide attempt that he subsequently made
available to the police, though he refused to reveal its
source, claiming journalist-source privilege (Adrianos was a
professional journalist before being appointed as the Prime
Minister's press secretary). Government Spokesman
Roussopoulos has defended Adrianos' claim of
journalist-source privilege. Further muddying the waters,
one of the attorneys representing Tsekou apparently attempted
suicide on January 4 by jumping in front of a truck. His
lawyer claimed he had been unjustly implicated by the media
as having attempted to blackmail Zahopoulos.


3. (SBU) The scandal received extensive public attention
during Greece's news-scant holiday period. The opposition
seized on it to challenge Karamanlis' claims of rooting out
corruption and has demanded the affair be investigated by the
Parliament. Furthermore, the opposition is challenging the
PM Spokesman's claim that he is protected by
journalist-source privilege. In response, the New Democracy
caucus in Parliament has called for an examination of all
Culture Ministry expenditures from 1996 to 2004 -- when the
opposition PASOK party was in power.


4. (SBU) Comment: Although this affair has riveted public
attention, it seems to have had little real impact on the
Karamanlis government thus far. The government response for
now appears to be to "let the independent judiciary do its
job," while restating the government's commitment to
combating corruption. Government spokesman Roussopoulos has
also distanced the government from Zahopoulos, noting that
"this is undoubtedly a case of personal morals." Barring
hard evidence of wrong-doing at the Central Archeological
Council, the scandal will likely eventually die down. The
Karamanlis government's focus in the meantime will be to
shore up a public increasingly skeptical of the PM,s "clean
hands/no corruption" policies. End Comment.
COUNTRYMAN