SEX, SUICIDE, AND DVDS: SCANDAL IN GREECE

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