Arrests of immigrants trying to illegaly cross to Italy by boarding ferries, are continuing unabated, in the western port of Patras. In the last three days alone, more than 40 immigrants have been arrested, while more than 100 since the beginning of September.
According to police and coast guard officials the rise in the numbers trying to clandestinely leave for Italy may be due to the higher traffic of the summer months.
As officials estimate, the gangs that deal in this trafficking believe that the increased traffic in passengers and vehicles allows greater leeway for smuggling illegals aboard ships destined for Italy.
In a recent characteristic case 24 illegal immigrants had climbed aboard a full tour bus, trying to hide among passengers. In another two cases, ten immigrants were spotted hiding in trucks carrying grapes and insulating materials.

Sparks flew in parliament,on Tuesday, as PASOK MP and deputy education minister Symeon Kedikoglou locked horns with communist party (KKE) parliamentary spokesman Thanasis Pafilis over the sale by the party of its broacaster "902".
The row began when Kedikoglou made acerbic comments about the sale of the station through an off-shore company to persons unknown. The deputy minister added that from a victim of capitalism, the KKE had become a predator.
Pafilis flew into a rage claiming that the station was sold to pay off laid-off staff and obligations to social security funds, rebuking Kedikoglou that he should not to talk about the KKE, since as he stated "PASOK had become a synonym for corruption and kickbacks."
Pafilis did not hesitate to call the deputy minister "disgraceful and incompetent," only to hear from Kedikoglou that the KKE "used the grey areas of capitalism to sell your business to an off-shore company."
What surprised most was that parliamentary spokesman for PASOK Dimitris Kremastinos did not support his colleague, but stated that he had voiced personal opinions.
It must be noted that the frequencies that KKE sold along with "902" are actually state property.

Ithaca mayor, Ioannis Kassianos has been relieved of his duties by the minister of the interior Yannis Michelakis, after the findings against him from the relevant disciplinary board.
According to the findings, Kassianos was found to have damaged the municipality's interest. The mayor was found to have burdened municipal coffers with an outstanding debt of 8,447,955 euros that a construction firm he owned owed the state.
The mayor used his authority and tied the municipality into his personal debts.
Specifically, the tax service (DOY) of Agios Dimitrios, a suburb of Athens, had docked a fourth of his salary as against the money his company owed. However, without informing the municipal council, he tendered a negative tax statement with the excuse thatthe state's demands had been superceded by the statute of limitations, adding that his salary as mayor was not subject to confiscation.
Aftewards, the 12th DOY, again docked his pay for further debts and alerted Ithaca municipality's director of finances. Kassianos went as far as demoting the director of finances to a switchboard operator. She took recourse with justice and was reinstated to her former position
While the director was a switcboard operator, the mayor ordered the bursar to stop any cuts to his pay in favor of the state.
After a report by the relevant local government authorities he was called to answer for implicating the municipality in his personal debt and for persecuting the municipality's director of finances and was charged furthermore for sequestering official documents, dereliction of duty, not filing a statement of means and assets, and for continued absenteeism during the years 2011-2012.
Kassianos first came in to the public eye when he slapped a municipal councellor that disagreed with him.

Public Order minister Nikos Dendias categorically underscored that Greece is not a xenophobic country and that all the incidents of racist violence by police personnel will be severely punished, in an interview with Belgrade daily Danas.

Dendias lauded the work of the police and noted that it can not be judged by the 15 incidents of police brutality noted by human rights NGOs. The minister also stated that the characterization of Greek society by the actions of Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi) was unfair, and that despite its rise in the polls it remained a marginal phenomenon. The minister condemned any police officer that would attempt to apply Golden Dawn's neo-nazi, as he called it, ideology he would face harsh retribution, even though political beliefs, no matter how personally repugnant were respected.

On the issue of illegal immigration Dendias noted that Greece faced a much more severe problem than other countries, but underscored the success of border policing efforts that have resulted in a decrease of 22.63% in the number of illegal immigrants in 2012, vis-a-vis 2011.