Italian, Greek authorities investigating incidents with two Greek tankers
LONDON/ATHENS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Italian and Greek authorities are investigating two separate incidents involving tankers that were damaged in January and February, the vessels' Athens-based operator Thenamaris said.
Thenamaris said on Wednesday the Seajewel tanker had suspended routine cargo operations on February 15 and that there had been "no harm to the environment as a result of the incident".
Italian prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation over an explosion over the weekend that damaged the Seajewel, which was anchored off the coast of northern Italy, the chief prosecutor of the city of Genoa said on Thursday.
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Thenamaris said on Thursday separately that Greek authorities were investigating what happened with the Seacharm, in an incident which took place in January.
"The vessel (Seacharm) is currently undertaking normal operations," Thenamaris said.
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Reuters
22 minutes ago
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Greek police arrest 12 in latest operation against sports-related gangs
ATHENS, June 16 (Reuters) - Greek police have arrested at least 12 people during an operation to break up two gangs whose members they said were sports fans involved in drug trafficking, beatings, robberies and arson, they said on Monday. The large-scale operation was still in progress, police said in a statement. The gangs, who possessed explosives, were active in the wider Athens area and involved in clashes with rival soccer supporters, they added. Since the 2023 death of a policeman in clashes with hooligans in Athens, police have launched a major crackdown on criminality and violence surrounding sports.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Greek probes into soccer hooliganism find links to drugs, extortion and arson
ATHENS, June 16 (Reuters) - When a police officer died after clashes with hooligans outside a women's volleyball match in Athens in December 2023, authorities vowed to end the violence and criminality that have plagued Greek sport for decades. Police launched probes into the hooliganism that killed George Lyngeridis and that had moved beyond soccer stadiums, but also into links between some violent fans and criminal gangs. These links, they believed, were ramping up the aggression. While the vast majority of sports fans in Greece are peaceful, evidence collected by police and seen by Reuters alleges hardcore fans, who follow their clubs across different sports, were involved in smuggling drugs, or linked to gangs extorting protection money from businesses and arson. "[The gangs] used sports as an alibi," Sports Minister Yiannis Vroutsis told Reuters. "They used clubs as a cover for their illegal acts." Police have made dozens of arrests, with the latest coming on Monday. The fan groups' hierarchies and discipline "offered the conditions for criminal organisations to thrive within them," Supreme Court Prosecutor Georgia Adilini has said. Police officials told Reuters gangs can emerge within fan groups or infiltrate them to sell drugs, or seek new recruits. On December 7, 2023, some fans of Olympiacos soccer club moved a bag of flares and makeshift explosives from a storage room at their soccer stadium to the venue for a women's volleyball derby against Panathinaikos, a police probe found. "We'll kill you!" the crowd shouted, according to prosecutors, during an attack on police that led to the fatal injury of Lyngeridis, who was hit by a flare. Last month, a Greek court convicted a 20-year-old Olympiacos fan of manslaughter and gave him a life sentence. Lyngeridis' mother Evgenia Stratou said her policeman son never expected to be in such danger. "That day, it wasn't that simple. They were organised, coordinated." In a separate investigation, dozens of Olympiacos fans have been charged with setting up a gang, extorting street vendors, possessing weapons and orchestrating assaults. They have denied wrongdoing, their defence lawyers have said. The soccer team's official fan club Gate 7 has condemned the attack and said it has never incited violence. The investigation extended to the top echelons of the club and Evangelos Marinakis, chairman of Olympiacos soccer club, is set to stand trial in the coming months with four board members. They face misdemeanour charges related to inciting sports-related violence and of abetting a criminal group. Marinakis and the other board members deny any wrongdoing or knowledge of criminal activity. Marinakis' lawyers declined to comment to Reuters on the case for this article but have called the accusations completely baseless in the past. Olympiacos has said it takes an unwavering stance against all violence. Gate 7 member Akis Vardalakis, 58, called the case a government witch hunt. But he noted a rise in aggression around sport. "Sports fandom is a mirror of society," he said. In July 2024, police dismantled a ring extorting protection money from at least 76 Athens restaurants and night-clubs. The gang was also hired by Panathinaikos fans to attack fellow team fans in a war for control, police allege in the documents. Panathinaikos' only legal fan club PALEFIP condemns all violence and vets new members, its president Gerasimos Menegatos said. PALEFIP could not comment on the extortion, he added. In December 2024, police dismantled a gang that imported cocaine and cannabis from Spain. Among core members were allegedly fans of soccer team AEK, previously involved in violence and robberies, the documents stated. In 2020-2021 alone, the group imported about 1.4 tonnes of cannabis and 30 kilograms of cocaine. Their estimated profits topped 7 million euros ($8.07 million). George Katsadimas, a legal representative for AEK's fan club, said the case did not concern the fan club but a few individuals who also support the team. The legal fan club condemns any form of violence and its members are not involved in any illegal activity, he said. Last month, police arrested 24 people, allegedly fans of soccer team PAOK in the northern city of Thessaloniki, accused of selling drugs at matches. "The alleged criminal group, which included some random PAOK supporters but also individuals who were not related to sports, has no link at all to the PAOK soccer team or its fan club," said lawyer Ilias Gkindis, who represents the fan club. Those in the legal fan club have nothing to do with illegal acts. "They are people who passionately love sports and believe that criminal activity, particularly drug-related, has no place in the fan club or in sports fandom," he added. Greece's judicial system has several preparatory stages and the compilation of charges does not necessarily mean an individual will face trial. Older fans said they noticed a rise in aggression since the 2009-2018 debt crisis, that left a young generation without work and with little prospects. "Sports fandom has always been a hybrid space," said Anastassia Tsoukala, a security and sports violence analyst and former associate professor of criminology. A young person can develop other affiliations within a group of fans, and may be pushed into crime in the desire to belong more deeply to a group, climb its hierarchy and make a living, she said. Greece in recent years cut the number of legal fan groups from dozens to just eight, increased stadium security and toughened penalties for clubs and sentences for hooliganism. Since February 2024, some 96 soccer matches have been played behind closed doors and authorities imposed fines worth about 1 million euros on clubs, according to government sources. Police monitor around 300 "high-risk" hardcore fans in each major club, a police source said. Vroutsis said reforms have been successful, while analysts argue brawls have merely shifted beyond the soccer stadiums. Police data shows 700 cases of sports-related crime annually. Critics and victims of the violence say more needs to be done. "Unlike other European countries, in Greece we have never adopted primary prevention. We have never looked at the profile of perpetrators to reduce that type of criminality in the long term. We are only focused on repression," said Tsoukala. Among those campaigning for change is Aristidis Kampanos, who went into politics after his son Alkis was stabbed to death in August 2023 in Thessaloniki. He was one of three people killed in sports-linked violence in 2022-2023. "The clean-up I want is not just a job for the state. We must all participate, including club presidents and fan clubs." Sport must be put back in the hands "of families, pure fans, and those who truly love soccer," he said. ($1 = 0.8669 euros)
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Explorers offer peek at abandoned theme park where boy, 13, died in tragic accident a decade ago
Urban explorers have shed light on an eerie abandoned theme park where a teen died tragically more than 10 years ago. Video footage shows the decaying Copa Copana Water Park in Athens - seemingly unchanged from the 2014 disaster that claimed the life of the 13-year-old boy. He and his sister, nine, were swept up by a gust of wind while playing inside a large inflatable ball at the 32,000 sq ft site in the Greek capital. Decaying: The park was the site of one of the grimmest amusement park disasters in 2014 when a boy died while enjoying one of its attractions They were flung from the surface of a pool about 100ft into a metal barrier and rushed immediately to Agia Sofia Children's Hospital in Athens. The boy died shortly after, having suffered severe head injuries, while his sibling was left critically injured and diagnosed with severe lung contusion. Copa Copana's two managers were arrested and an investigation began into whether safety issues played a role in the tragedy. Greek police concluded it was a result of both 'bad weather conditions and human error' and the park was swiftly closed for good. Now a group of urban explorers have headed back to the park and discovered a creepy site, with the attraction's rides and slides still up, but barely a soul around. Nature has reclaimed the abandoned park, with huge spiraling plants intertwined with the twists and turns of the various defunct flumes. With the facility tucked in between a hillside and a main road, the YouTubers - whose account Urbandoned has 138,000 subscribers - try to sneak into the site from the rear. After a walk through a forest of thick trees, the duo eventually see an abandoned ride peeking out from the undergrowth. The park is well protected, with a layer of razor wire coating a fence and a small surrounding road, seemingly used by security staff. They eventually squeeze beneath a small gap in the fence before exploring the spooky site. Discarded piping and metal cover the park's grounds with thick weeds and plants dispersed between what were once popular rides. Drone footage shows the slides gathering rust and moss and pools of stagnant water, filled with tadpoles, sitting in sections of the facility. A climb to the top of one of the flumes offers expansive views of the surrounding mountains, city and the meandering metal rides. As he walks down a path, overgrown with towering green plants, one of them describes Copa Copana as 'an actual jungle.' The narrator explains that the park in its heyday boasted 13 rides as well as cafes and restaurants. Bizarrely, they spot dozens of sun loungers and outdoor tables stowed away beneath one of the slides, a reminder of the fun experiences once had at the site. It turns out they are not the first explorers to visit the abandoned park, with several rides seen covered in graffiti, sprayed on in the years since they were drained out. A trip up a few flights of creaky stairs to the highest point in the facility allows one of the YouTubers to even get a spectacular view of the ocean, as well as the vast extent of the creepy site. Poignant archive footage then shows Copa Copana at its happy peak several decades before, with hundreds of children and parents enjoying its attractions. The group are initially surprised by the lack of security at the abandoned site but it turns out the guard had been resting on a sun lounger before ambling towards them. The friendly member of staff allows them to stroll to the part of the park they have not yet seen as long as they then head for the exit. Eerily, some of the lifeguard chairs and even cafe menus remain left exactly where they stood during Copa Copana's operational days.
