Former Greek Culture Ministry official attempts suicide

December 20, 2007

The former General Secretary of the Greek Ministry of Culture, Christos Zachopoulos, 54, attempted suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of his apartment in central Athens. He was found lying in the pavement outside his home in Kolonaki at 14:00 EET (UTC+2).

According to evidence, Mr. Zahopoulos had fallen from the fourth floor of his apartment under unclear circumstances. The attempted suicide of Zachopoulos shocked the political world of Greece, mainly after published allegations about misuse of EU funds from the Ministry of Culture.

Television station Mega Channel and the blog Press-gr have published rumours which connect Zachopoulos with tapes that contain sexual scenes of the former General Secretary. So far, however, no specific content has been published and nobody confirmed officially the existence of such material.

Originally a history teacher from Thessaloniki, Zachopoulos had resigned from the post of director three days ago, after a demand from Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, a personal friend of his.

Zachopoulos was moved to Evangelismos Hospital where he is hospitalized while his clinical condition is very critical. The tomography he was submitted to showed that the brain injuries are not serious while fractures in arms and legs will require surgery.