The Mantheakis Post - Samaras moves up to take the lead in the New Democracy leadership race

Andonis Samaras, ND leadership contender

Contender Dora Mitsotakis-Bakoyannis with former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and fugitive Siemens executive Michalis Christoforakis (on the left)

After the New Democracy government called a snap election on October, 4th its devastating collapse at the polls with George Papandreou's PASOK party winning by more than  10%, a leadership race began in ND. There were initially four contenders, but in essence only two had a real chance to become the new ND leader - Andonis Samaras and Dora Bakoyannis (more correctly called Theodora Mitsotakis-Kouvelos, but she uses the politically advantageous surname of her journalist husband Bakoyannis who was murdered by the November 17th terrorist cell).

Patrician Harvard-educated Samaras, who as foreign minister brought down the government of Dora Mitsotakis' father Kostas Mitsotakis in the early nineties when he refused to sign for the recognition by Greece of FYROM as Macedonia was out in the political cold for twelve years when he refused to bend on this matter which for him was, as he explains, one of patriotic principle. Twelve years passed in which the formidable Mitsotakis political machine propelled daughter Dora to the top echelon of New Democracy government posts, while easing her brother Kyriakos Mitsotakis into a parliamentary seat in Athens. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as a result of this support, received the most votes in Athens, even though he was young and without ministerial experience, leaving behind well-known ND ministers with long and successful track records in Greek politics. All this was going well for Dora Mitsotakis until the Siemens bribery scandal broke in several countries and affected Greek politics with admissions by senior Siemens executives that 100 million Euros had been disbursed to the two major political parties in Greece. The names of the Mitsotakis family were referred to by the Greek media and in parliament in connection with alleged "favours" granted, or asked for, (e.g. discounts on electrical appliances, etc) by Siemens to Dora Mitsotakis and to her brother who had received, and not fully paid for (until the story broke) a highly sophisticated 150,000 Euro telephone installation in his office.

Photos (see above) of fugitive Siemens executive Michalis Christoforakos, who escaped Greece to Germany where he was kid-gloved by the local courts and released from prison, and Dora Bakoyannis in an extremely friendly atmosphere did not help her image. Despite this, and with the massive Siemens scandal dropping from the political agenda of the two parties, Dora Bakoyannis had the lead over the other contenders - former diplomat and Minister of Health Dimitrios Avramopoulos, who dropped out of the race recently, Panayotis Psomiades, Prefect of Thessaloniki - a populist politician with about 12% of the ND delegate vote - and Andonis Samaras, who entered the leadership race without offices, without even a website and without a party political machine to back him up. But Samaras has done well.

The initial large lead of Mrs Bakoyannis over the others has now narrowed to a tie, with Samaras picking up support by the day, helped by every new appearance of his on television and by his speech at the two day ND Conference held in Athens this weekend. Samaras has the political and psychological advantage of his family and himself never having been involved in any ethical controversy or financial scandal, something that is giving him substantial political capital in a country whose governments have for decades now been constantly ranked by Transparency International as mired in corruption. 

Mrs Bakoyannis will by no means be an easy contestant to beat, especially many claim that she is supported by Washington and NATO, but then again Samaras is pro-western and a person who is open to dialogue. He has the advantage also of never having had his patriotism been called into question, something that is bringing him party and popular support and will allow him, if he becomes the opposition leader or prime minister in the future, to have the necessary credibility which will allow him to close difficult foreign policy sores.     

The race continues between two resilient and determined contestants for the post of leader of New Democracy. While Mrs Bakoyannis is slightly in the lead, time is on Andonis Samaras side and he may, as we predicted months ago (see our Feb 16th article) be the next leader of the powerful Greek New Democracy opposition party.       

The Mantheakis Post - UPDATED- Part 4, Nightmare in Monaco - The Reconstruction of Katerina Kechagia

Prince Albert's Inner Governing Circle

The Kechagia story which took place in Monaco and elsewhere has started to unfold, despite the reluctance of the Serene Principality to provide answers for requests from Kechagia's lawyers for the young businesswoman's police files and psychiatric hospital records. Two requests by her Paris lawyer, Stephane Zerbib (well known internationally for his part in the Lybian Bulgarian Nurses case and the Arusha International Rwanda Genocide Court trial) went unanswered, as have, so far, three requests by Kechagia (the latest submitted by her family doctor in Greece) for a copy of her medical file from the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco. 

Three days ago Zerbib received a letter from the Chief Prosecutor of Prince Albert's Serene Principality stating that Ms Kechagia has "no criminal file" and was never the subject of a police investigation. He adds that she was only "deported" from the Principality.

Excuse me? .... Let us shake our disbelieving heads a little longer before asking the obvious - if there is no criminal file on Kechagia why was there a Monaco instigated multi-national Interpol enquiry about her? 

Second, if she was never taken or summoned to police HQ, as Mr Raybaud now claims, why is there documentary evidence to the contrary? note -  a recent letter from Mr Raybaud to attorney Stephane Zerbib states  that Ms Kechagia was in fact "summoned by the police on June 2nd, 2006", but only to inform her of the Proust deportation order for her - interestingly the Procureur - General's letter to Kechagia's lawyer states that the prosecutor general only received two of the three letters from Zerbib, specifically denying that the second letter was ever received by him. Zerbib, somewhat amused when asked about this, says that he sent the letter by courier to the Monaco Procureur General. Interesting.) 

Third, if there is indeed no criminal file, how come Ms Kechagia (the Monaco head of the pre-comp team of a major international environmental organization - Green Cross International - with branches in the US, Brazil, France and in 48 countries) was deported on the orders of Minister Proust?  (see the eringer blog link below which mentions the names of the people who run Monaco's government)  

http://www.roberteringer.com/col_122708.htm  ) 

Fourth, why was prestigious Green Cross itself effectively thrown out of the scandal-infested principality when the president of its pre-comp in Monaco, Katerina Kechagia, was so ignominously labelled persona non grata and deported? 

For someone to be declared non-grata (something even convicted criminals are rarely labelled) it is clear that there must be a serious violation of criminal law. In a democratic society, but even in the most murderous of dictatorships, it ALWAYS means the involvement of the police. 

In democratic societies, and certainly in the European Union, it is the obligation of the police in each country, and at each police station, even in isolated one-policeman posts, to keep a meticulous record of who is brought in for interrogation, and who goes out, and when. Further, it is the obligation of the state to supply a citizen's lawyers with the findings against their client. 

In Monaco they have now answered that Katerina Kechagia NEVER had a police file or was criminally investigated. Not even for being an "impostor" or for being "associated with the mafia"  - so Kechagia, according to Mr Raybaud, the Monegasque Procureur General, is now officially innocent of any criminal behaviour! What then was all the fuss about? Why was she so ignominously deported, after previously being forcibly locked up in a psychiatric institution against her will (and proven to be sane -of course, by the documents she already has)  and then declared a personna non grata, something that ruined her reputation, damaged her career, destroyed her subsequent marriage in Greece when her prominent businessman husband's colleagues, family, and friends read mocking and defamatory reprints in the local provincial papers about Kechagia, the "fraudster", " being put into handcuffs" and being "deported by the Monaco authorities", etc. 

Prince Albert so far is not known to have knowledge of the details of what transpired between his palace officials and Kechagia. Or why this young Greek purveyor of a state-of-the-art prime "Green Building" project to be constructed in the Monaco harbour on landfill offered by the Prince to Green Cross International (which Kechagia represented) was treated as she was by his close advisers. But today too much has happened for the Serene Palace to claim it knows nothing of her side of the story. Prince Albert has received much bad publicity, and is no stranger to it, and as long as this had to do with his own personal life or that of the Royal sisters, it was really no one's business, and no one outside the Grimaldi clan was affected, but stories are surfacing now by the day of Human Rights abuses in Monaco. Monaco itself was under investigation for its Human Rights record by a  special committee of the European Union until October 1st (note - latest info says the enquiry was terminated by the EU - we will have more on this soon, but we have read that the EU's Russian co-ordinator of the Monaco investigation was last heard of as exchanging medals with Prince Albert somewhere in a Russian Arctic polar station - not exactly a confrontational - investigator/investigatee relationship. Mr Leonid Slutsky, the Russian in charge of monitoring Monaco's human Rights record, is reported as also having organised a dog sled expedition for the Prince in 2006. Difficult to believe, but in Monaco it seems we are living in another era, and possibly in another dimension). The following has been written in the press - just for the record: 

"Russian Member of Parliament Leonid Slutsky said yesterday

(16.10.07): "Albert has shown a lively interest in the project, and

the flight to the North Pole could be his second 'Arctic project'."

On Friday (12.10.07), Albert joined Slutsky and Russia's Deputy State

Duma Speaker Artur Chilingrov for the unveiling of the aircraft in

Marseilles, France.

In 2006, Slutsky co-organised an Arctic trip on dog-pulled sledges for

the prince."

 

Albert may still be unaware of the Kechagia case details re his chosen associates who govern the Principality and run its government, but he must be aware of the blog article written by an American, Robert Eringer,  whom the Sunday Times and other major international newspapers this weekend claimed was Albert's Monaco intelligence chief for several years. The allegations made by Eringer in his blog - 

http://www.roberteringer.com/col_122708.htm  

need no comment from us regarding the names that also crop up in the Kechagia case.  It is interesting though that Mr Eringer mentions huge real estate deals and inside interests. Let us not forget that Katerina Kechagia walked into the principality like a whirlwind bringing a new prime construction project directly to the Prince himself, who initially agreed to be Honorary President of the Green Cross Monaco project. Did Kechagia step on toes and interests in the palace? While we take no position on the allegations of Mr Eringer, who was in a position to know the truth about what went on in the principality, one may be tempted to comment:  

"Poor Ms Kechagia"!

But from what we have heard the determined 25 year-old Greek businesswoman with what looks like a will of steel, muttered the now famous Schwarzenegger line as she was driven over the Monaco-French border - " I will be back!" 

We do not doubt it.

 

The Mantheakis Post - 4 Athens Police Wounded in an Attack by Terrorists

On Tuesday evening three motorcycles pulled up outside the Ayia Paraskevi police station in Athens and their riders opened fire, wounding three policemen and a policewoman in their early twenties. There is no question that this was a terrorist strike. It would appear that the Greek terrorists are sending a defiant message to the new minister of Public Security Michalis Chrisohoides who recently posted a reward of 600,000 Euros for three young men who were involved in a bank robbery 3 years ago and who are suspected of being involved in terrorist acts. Chrisohoides, who was the PASOK Socialist government minister in charge before the Olympic Games of 2004 when the notorious November 17t terrorist group were arrested, was rumoured last week to be re-opening the files on dormant Greek terrorist groups and this may have promoted Tuesday's attack against a symbol of the state.  

The shootings at the police station have all the signs of being the work of a  new generation of politically-motivated armed groups believed to be made up of upper middle class members who have attended private schools and live in the wealthy northern suburbs of Athens but frequent Exarchia, the central Athens enclave popular with anarchist/anti-establishment youth. Up until now the wealthy revolutionaries have chosen to kill, maim, or attack lowly-paid working-class police sentries, and have conspicuously ignored turning their attentions to those few, but prominent newly-wealthy corrupt politicians and their partners in crime who have looted the country’s public coffers and have been involved in a series of massive financial scandals which never got to the courts owing to the legal system in Greece. 

It would seem that in the confusion that is Hellas of the early 21th century it is the robber capitalists’ offspring who are revolting - against the working proletariat who are risking their lives to protect them.  

The Mantheakis Post - Papandreou's PASOK Moves ahead as New Democracy looks for a new leader

New Democracy, the right wing Greek conservative party which resoundingly lost the October 4th election to George Papandreou's socialist Pasok party has entered the final phase of a leadership contest after former Premier Kostas Karamanlis announced that he was stepping down from the wounded party's leadership.

Among the traditional contenders - former Foreign Minister Dora Mitsotakis-Bakoyannis was until now the favourite and it does not take a lot of imagination to see that her formidable family politicaL machne, which seems awash with money, has managed to influence major media figures who do not hide their preference for her candidacy. Another contender, blazer-wearing Dimitri Avramopoulos, an affable provincial lad and son of a gendarme, is also in the running after announcing his candidacy for the ND leadership. Avramopoulos spent years in the diplomatic service, became a successful mayor of Athens, then broke from New Democracy (ND) to establish his own party- KEP - which failed when it ran out of money. He then returned to New Democracy to serve in the scandal-ridden Karamanlis government as Health Minister. Avramopoulos is generally seen as a low-key politician prone to a somewhat theatrical speaking manner. He is said to be looking for allies in his bid for the leadership. A third candidate in the struggle is Andonis Samaras, a western-oriented Harvard graduate, former foreign minister, and recently a Minister of Culture. For many he is the real hope for New Democracy to clean its stable and establish a credible leadership. Samaras is respected both domestically and overseas and has never been associated with financial scandals such as the Siemens bribery scandal which recently touched on several major political figures and is still open as far as the Greek public is concerned.    

Last of the group is Thessaloniki Prefect Panayotis Psomiades, a popular grass roots politician prone to adopting any trick that will bring him publicity and into the forefront of the attention of a public which often delights in - even though it occasionally scoffs at - his pranks. Psomiades is not beyond dressing up as Zorro and riding masked through Salonika on a horse brandishing a sabre or flying a huge kite off the corniche of the city to the delight of toddlers and the attendant media. He also draws the cameras when he takes the microphone for a different purpose as he is an accomplished singer. Though his image may at times seem frivolous Psomiades national politics are deadly serious on matters of foreign policy and immigration. It will be a foolish man who will discount his candidacy if the leadership contest for New Democracy opens up the leadership vote to a wider popular base. His enemies are legion while his friends in the party know that he is a long shot but they are not giving up on his chances yet.

Prime Minister George Papandreou

While New Democracy is absorbed in its internal leadership struggle George Papandreou's Pasok has gone head-on against the most pressing problems facing Greece. Withn 48 hours of becoming Prime Minister Papandreou went to Turkey for a brief visit to see his counterparts there. His Finance Minister Papaconstantinou has had a series of meetings with the Governor of the Bank of Greece and has announced new measures for the economy, such as lightening the tax burden on the poorer classes and taxing the rich, with more to come next week. Louka Katseli, another minister, has been dealing with a strike that has debilitated Piraeus container terminals that were ceded to China's Cosco by the Karamanlis government. The dock strike is led by the Greek Communist-controlled dockworkers union (the irony - A Communist workers syndicate blocking the largest container shipping company of Communist China). 

Pasok has taken more steps in its two weeks of existence as the new government.

Its health minister Ms Xenogianakopoulou, announced the hiring of 3,000 badly needed hospital staff, a move that will help the hospitals and recieve kudos from the public. So far, so good, for Mr Papandreou.

Another Pasok minister, Michalis Chrisohoides, Minister of "Citizens Safety", is a favourite of the US and the UK from the time when he worked closely with Scotland Yard and the CIA, giving them the run of the upper floors of the forbidding grey/green Greek Security and State HQ highrise on Katechaki Avenue before and after the Pasok government arrested the elusive and very dangerous 17th of November terrorist organisation responsible for numerous Greeks' and foreigners' murders. Chrisohoidis is back on his old beat with a new generation of young, and apparently affluent middle class home-grown terrorists hatching in the cities.

Media reports say that Chrisohoides, is ready to open up Greece again to the FBI and to Scotland Yard; the question is while the UK will have the opportuntity to chase after and interrogate Greek lawbreakers, there is another crime which in Greece is often punishable by jail terms longer than those for murder, and that is the highly profitable and illegal trading in and possession of looted archaeological artifacts, archaiokapilia, which corrodes the cultural wealth and history of the nation. Will Chrisohoides take the opportunity the Greek people have given him to put pressure on the UK government to return the looted Parthenon Marbles, perhaps the most valuable stolen national treasure of any nation still being held by those who took it. Britain's proud display of the looted Classical Greek artifacts in the Duveen Room of the British Museum in London is expected to become a big thorn in the side of Greece's relations with Britain as the London Olympics of 2012 approach when Greek athletes will be expected to open the London Games before the eyes of the entiree world when a few hundred yards away the Parthenon Marbles are under guard in the British Museum. The unprecedented scale of the cultural crime and the immense value of the stolen items in London continues to be unmatched by the booty of any international cocaine and heroin cartel or by any international money laundering operations. 

Will Chrisohoides face up to his British counterpart in Mr Gordon Brown's government and demand reprocity from his UK ministerial counterpart? Greece certainly hopes so.  
 

The Monaco Kechagia story update Part 3 - Scary Coincidences

PART THREE - OCT 11th UPDATE -

According to Ms Kechagia, last month, after she brought her story to public attention, she was taken by 6 burly Greek police and security agents from her home (which they searched at 10 pm with her permission -she was cooperative, even though they did not have a search warrant) to the local Tripoli police station in the Peloponnese and interrogated for hours as to whether she had ever claimed to be Gorbachev's daughter (!!!). Nothing of course came of the interrogation as she denies this accusation. The sympathetic agents who had expected to see a deranged impostor and not the straight- talking and composed young woman who stood before them explained to her that they had been sent from Athens to follow up yet another request from Monaco for information regarding Kechagia. From her description of past events it is the third time that Interpol has "interviewed" her, searched her family home, scaring her family, and interviewing  her friends and aquaintances in four countries. Always, supposedly, with the motive of establishing "if she had claimed to have been a Gorbachev illegitimate daughter". Recent reports indicate that the Monegasque state machinery has requested 5 year tax statements from the Swiss authorities regarding Kechagia. An interesting development coming from Monaco, a country which has perhaps the most opaque financial system in Europe and is a well- known tax refuge for those who do not wish to pay unnecessary taxes to the governments of their own countries.Let it be far from us though to ever imply that criminal money has ever found its way into the Principality, or that money laundering has taken place there. No, Kathryn Kechagia with the 300,000 Euros which she imported to Monaco by verified bank transfers through UBS from her own companies in Switzerland seems to be Monaco's prime and pressing financial problem at this time.Let it be so.  

For those readers who have followed our two previous posts (Nightmare in Monaco, August 20th, and September 23rd) it seems a very big hammer for a very small nail.

It is perhaps time for Monaco instead of continuing to provoke these intrusions, to give a clear description of why it did, what it did, to Kechagia in the Principality in 2008 and why it locked her up in a psychiatric ward. And of course to say exactly what, as the law demands, was her crime. 

The more Kechagia and her lawyers demand an explanation for her treatement and for a copy of her files from the Principality, the more harrassment she seems to be getting.

One positive development is that her lawyer in Paris, Stephan Zerbib, known for taking part in high profile cases such as the Arusha Rwanda Genocide trials, had last week received a letter from the Procureur General of Monaco to say that his request for Kechagia's dossier had "been received". In Monaco of today that can indeed be considered to be progress.

Is it time perhaps for a reverse request from the Greek Foreign Ministry and the Hellenic Secret Service, EYP, to the Monegasque authorities to investigate all parties as to why a Greek citizen heading a major international environmental organization's team was forcibly confined in the Princess Grace psychiatric ward for days, drugged and subjected to a series of medical tes ts, and why she was arrested, and by whom, and why she was deported? Is it not time perhaps for the Monegasque investigators and committing doctors to themselves be questioned as to what they did to Ms Kechagia and why, and on whose orders? 

Two days after Ms Kechagia was taken to the Tripoli police station, where, incidentally, the police chief knows her as a quiet and law abiding citizen and supporter of the local football team (Kechagia had donated 20,000 Euros to the team in the past) her hired limousine was twice stopped by plain clothes police in unmarked cars on the Patras- Athens road and searched, with nothing being found.

Her troubles were not over, an hour later - an unrelated incident occurred. When the  Mercedes 600 in which she was travelling stopped in Athens at a red light, it was rammed from behind, causing damage to the vehicle. 

Two days ago - another coincidence - a similar Mercedes 600 limousine which was carrying presents from her to friends in Athens was rammed from behind in a tunnel near Athens, like the Diana accident, causing the limousine driver to lose control, crash against the tunnel wall, with the driver breaking both legs and sustaining head injuries which required three hours of surgery at an Athens hospital. Kechagia had, luckily for her, decided not to travel in the car and was therefore spared serious injury or death. 

The incident was, for lack of contrary evidence, unrelated to the earlier one and to what had happened in the past, but a now superstitious and understandably jumpy Kechagia has reportedly decided to travel by public Greek intercity buses! Just to be on the safe side.    

A Note - a prestigious Stockholm law firm on July 6th of this year lodged a complaint in the European Court of Human Rights against Monaco for alleged violations of articles 34, 6/8 and 13 of the Code of Human Rights. The case has to do with a Swedish woman who was a law abiding resident in Monaco for 35 years who claims that there was a lack of protection of her private and family life and of her property rights by the Monaco authorities. We shall be bringing more about this case to our readers as it is very interesting in view of the Kechagia case to see that there may indeed be "something amiss in the Principality of Monaco', to paraphrase Shakespeare. 

A further note, the principality of Monaco until October the 1st was being monitored by the European Union for its application of Human Rights. 

The legal follow-up to the European Court of Human Rights claim by the Swedish law firm on behalf of its client will no doubt explain more about what did in fact happen in the Serene Principality in this separate series of incidents. The Kechagia case turn out not to be that strange or unique after all. We shall soon see whether the same names from the Monegasque police and other state (judicial and ministerial) departments  were involved in both cases.  

The Mantheakis Post - The Papandreou Triumph - Aftermath of the Greek Elections

 Greek Parliament Building

When Kostas Karamanlis, the beleaguered New Democracy conservative party leader called a snap election his government ministers were mired in major scandals, the economy of Greece was in a mess and Karamanlis had lost 13 percentage points in the last 13 months in the popularity polls. To add to this Karamanlis said he had nothing more to give, would impose further restrictions on the citizenry, and all-in-all it looked as if he had given up his will to rule. It is not surpising therefore that the opposition PASOK socialist party led by George Papandreou, who had led a very finely polished campaign promising a new method of government and a way out of the crisis  won the election on Sunday, October the 4th. Everyone, including PASOK itself, was amazed by the 10% margin of victory of Papandreou's PASOK over New Democracy with its disappointing 33.48% of the vote. The victory gave Papandreou a clear mandate to rule with 160 MP's in a Parliament of 300 members. 

Losses were sustained by the Communist Party while a sigh of relief was heard from the communist-oriented SYRIZA coalition which had ballooned to 18 percent before the December 2008  riots in Athens, something that they had not openly condemned, and which cost SYRIZA most of its support, causing a rift at the top with a brief but acrimonious struggle between the aging leader of the party millionaire Alekos Alavanos and the young Alexis Tsipras who had been groomed by Alavanos to rule with him. Tsipras won the internecine battle and led the party into the election with a big question mark hanging over its head as to whether it would collect the threshold 3% of the national vote required for the party's re-entry into the Greek Parliament. Tsipras led the party safely on Sunday through the gates of the polls and back into parliament.

The Green Ecologists party, also hoping for an entry into parliament, had become embroiled in a messy political and national controversy over statements by one of its leaders regarding the national status of the city of Salonika and the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece. This weighed heavily in the decision of the Greek electorate not to give the Greens enough votes to enter parliament. 

Only George Karatzaferis right wing LA.O.S party - the Popular Orthodox Rally - shared in the victory atmosphere of PASOK by increasing its vote from 3.8% to 5.63%, something that allowed the party to increase its MPs from 10 to 15, a crucial number which will allow Karatzaferis to demand roll call voting in parliament.  LA.O.S supporters had hoped for double-digit results until very recently but the expected stream of voters from the sinking Karamanlis party which is close politically to LA.O.S did not materialize as ND voters who were abandonning ship chose to go with PASOK which was sure to win the election. Greeks follow a winner. "Me to gouverno" is the popular explanation - "with the governors". Nevertheless the 50% increase in the party's MP's was a significant gain and made the party happy. 

ND has gone into a period of a rapid centrifugal disintegration with major political figures like powerful public works ministry czar George Souflias resigning from his position as an MP and from politics in general. Others are expected to follow suit in the wake of the election debacle of the conservatives.

New Democracy was founded by Kostas Karamanlis uncle Kostantinos Karamanlis on October 4th, 35 years ago. It looks like the date is particularly relevant as after the ND defeat on Sunday Octber the 4th, the younger Karamanlis announced his decision to step down and allow a new leader to take over his gravely wounded party. To all observers this development is the end of the Karamanlis political dynasty and the era it ushered in after the collapse fo the military junta in 1974 and th restoration of democracy by Karamanlis the elder in 1974. More developments are expected by the day as a major shift has taken place on the Greek political scene with PASOK's stunning victory. Though many Greeks are happy for the change they are understandably wary of all the political promises and it will be a true challenge for Papandreou to prove that he is indeed able to deliver what he promised. If he does so then a return to power soon by New Democracy may be a pipe dream.   

 

The Mantheakis Post, Oct, 11th Update.Part 3. Nightmare in Monaco, Part Two, The Kechagia Scandal

There have been more developments in the case of Katerina Kechagia, the 25 year old Greek businesswoman whose Gorbachev- backed prestigious Green Cross International project (one of 48 in the world wide chain of public benefit institutions under the Green Cross label) in Monaco suddenly collapsed amid a series of dark episodes when the precocious young woman with stunning looks, designer clothes and the backing of a team of lawyers, secretaries, and experts descended on the small principality of Monaco to meet with Prince Albert and those around him in order to construct a state of the art "green building" project.

Kechagia, who had been visiting Monte Carlo for more than three years previously, attending official palace functions and other events, appears to have ruffled gilded feathers and political and business interests when she presented her organization to Prince Albert, who agreed to become its Honorary Patron. Success breeds envy, and even more so when a gorgeous and talented interloper with prestigious friends appears before a Prince. 

Our previous article gives details on how Kechagia suddenly found herself enmeshed in a Soviet-era Kafkaesque series of incidents when the state machinery initiated a series of actions against her. According to her description of events she was dragged in the middle of the night to police stations in handcuffs, threatened with beaings in interrogation cells and locked up under heavy sedation in psychiatric wards, supposedly because she had claimed - she vehemently denies this (and to date there is no evidence to refute her) -  to have been Gorbachev's illegitimate daughter.(The nature of this damnable crime against Monaco, we hear, is still being studied by criminal lawyers who have gone back as far as the Code of Hammurabi to find a descripion of the crime, so far without success).     

From what Kechagia says the Palace machinery bullied her, subjecting the young woman to a series of forced and painful tests in the Princess Grace hospital's psychiatric ward,  and when nothing was found against her when she resisted all the accusations, took her again in handcuffs to the police station for further interrogation. When nothing came of this either, Interpol was called in, stories of the "Gorbachev daughter imposter" were given to the international media and Kechagia's family and friends overseas were intimidated by the sudden appearance of police teams ransacking their homes or calling them to come to police stations to give evidence against the hapless businesswoman. 

Green Cross, a world wide environmental organization, presided over by Alexander Likhotal, former Vice President of the Soviet Union and a close Gorbachev associate, backed her up, but  saw the  promised Green Cross charter in Monaco thrown into the garbage can as the organization itself was asked to leave Monte Carlo, the former pirate sanctuary founded by a Grimaldi corsair ancestor. Monaco followed up by leaking to the press and to lawyers that Kechagia was involved with the mafia. Other stories were that she was suicidal and had wanted to jump out of her 4th floor appartment, something rather interesting since the official police report (which apparently the official source making the leak was not aware of) stated that on the last occasion the young woman was arrested in her Monte Carlo apartment, it was 3 am, and she was fast asleep when the "knock at the door" came. 

Monaco will more than likely find the Kechagia story to be a sticky wicket. Kechagia, now resident in her native Greece has finally started picking up the pieces of a prematurely shattered life with a dogged determination that had fired her ambition and success as a businesswoman before Monaco decided to be rid of her.  Reports from sources close to her indicate that she is determined to get some satisfaction for a ruined life and for the horrifying experiences at the hands of the Monaco police which had reportedly abducted her, but also from the Princess Grace Hospital which for the last twenty days has so far ignored a direct Kechagia request, translated into French and certified by the Greek Foreign Ministry, to give her a copy of her Monte Carlo hospital file. The hospital had previously sent a letter to her lawyer Stephan Zerbib with references to a website for her physician to ask for the documents. Kechagia, who at the age of 23 had three Swiss companies and a successful career as a promoter of international tenor concerts, has now enrolled a team of experts, graphologists, international lawyers and a media adviser to help her clear her damaged reputation and extract an apology, with whatever that implies,  from Prince Albert's government. To date Monaco appears to have a lot of egg on its face since they have not produced any evidence of wrongdoing by Kechagia, no mafia conections, no bizarre suicidal behaviour, no illegal activity nor can they explain why for three years when she was a regular visitor to the principality and to its official functions, when presumably the state security officials would have chacked both her background and her activities. 

Kechagia will wait to see if Monaco will give her copies of her medical records, a right which every citizen of the EU has. Documents which will clarify the circumstances of her forced hopitalization, restraint and tests (which will show the true depth of what was done to her). The whole question of Monaco and its habeas corpus guarantees to its visitors and investors may seriously compromised if satisfactory answers are not given. 

This whole bizarre story points indicates that someone in power will perhaps need to do more than take time in between the Rose Ball, the F1 festivities and the pigeon shooting contests if there is to be a lid on this story. 

More than likely Prince Albert is not aware of the seriousness and international implications of the Kechagia story. Grossly mishandled by the palace and the police, the scandal is now moving to a higher level since a new series of Interpol investgations has allegedly come up with nothing aganst the young businesswoman. Another question, and one which has understandably ruffled Russian feathers in very, very high places, is why Prince Albert's palace officials, besides deporting Kechagia as a personna non grata - without clear reason as the law demands - also threw out Green Cross International fro the Pricipality. The respected international environmental organization, while making no statements, is said to be greatly annoyed by the way Monaco treated them. Some international observers feel that for Monaco the situation is beginning  to look like a scorpion - from whichever end one picks it up, one will get bitten.  

PART THREE - OCT 11th UPDATE -

According to Ms Kechagia last month, after she brought her story to public attention was taken by 6 burly Greek police and agents from her home at 10 pm to the local Tripoli police station in the Peloponnese and interrogated for hours as to whether she had ever claimed to be Gorbachev's daughter (!!!). Nothing of course came of the interrogation.The sympathetic agents who had expected to see a deranged impostor and not the straight talking and composed girl explained they had been sent from Athens to follow up a new request from Monaco. 

Two days later her hired limousine was twice stopped by lain clothes police in unmarked cars on the Patras- Athens road and searched with nothing being found.

Her troubles were not over, an hour later - an unrelated incident occurred. When the  Mercedes 600 in which she was travelling stopped in Athens ata red ,light it was rammed from behind, causing damage to the vehicle. 

Two days ago - another coincidence - a similar Mercedes 600 limousine which was carrying presents from her to friends in Athens was rammed from behind in a tunnel near Athens, like the Diana accident, causing the limousine driver to lose control, crash against the tunnel wall, with the driver breaking both legs and sustaining head injuries which required three hours of surgery at an Athens hospital. Kechagia had,  luckily for her, decided not to travel in the car and was therefore spared serious injury or death.

The incident was unrelated to the earlier one and to what had happened in the past, but a now superstitious and understandably jumpy Kechagia has reportedly decided to travel by public Greek intercity buses. Just to be on the safe side.