University Professor he was sentenced to 17 months in prison, suspended for 3 years, as he was found guilty by the Court of Northern Greece for dereliction of duty and attempted extortion (in continuation).

According to the indictment, he demanded from researchers participating in university programs, which he supervised, the payment of part of their monthly salaries from the Special Account for Research Funds (ELKE) of the Foundation, otherwise he threatened to “block” their payments or remove them from the programs. As described in the same indictment, the amounts he requested ranged from 300 to 400 euros per month, for mutual funds that did not exceed 1,000 euros, during the same period.

The case reached the courtrooms after complaints were made by the researchers, who were either at the postgraduate level or working on their doctoral theses. “He threatened me that he would intercede to return four wages I had received if I did not give him 300 of the 720 euros I received every month,” one of the complainants said in his statement.

The accused university student spoke of “conspiracy and shameless lies” in his apology. “I didn’t ask for money. What I told them was paraphrased as “if no work is produced the money must be returned”. In the first two months I gave opportunities, then I delayed the signing, but as a lever of pressure for them to perform their work,” he said, among other things.

His guilt was previously requested by the prosecutor of the seat who mentioned that the academic career of the researchers depended on the defendant who evaluated them. “No one succumbed to his appetites, to his pressures,” he noted of the complainants.