A three-judge misdemeanor court found 57 of the 58 farmers from Crete guilty in the case involving illegal OPEKEPE subsidies, based on land declarations in Northern Greece.
This case involves Cretan farmers who, according to the charges brought by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, falsely claimed to own or farm thousands of stremmata of land in Kastoria. The defendants made these declarations in order to receive subsidies from the national fund, designating the land either as pasture or as land suitable for growing olives or almonds—crops that do not thrive in the region.
The judges, in a majority decision, acquitted a female producer, accepting her argument that the criminal offense had been extinguished due to her repayment, with interest, of the disputed sums she had received. The amount is estimated at 30,000 euros.
At the same time, the court amended the charges against some of the defendants and reduced the amounts initially attributed to them in the indictment.
The defendants did not appear in court, having been represented by their attorneys from the outset.
The proceedings will continue on July 1, at which time the court, after ruling on the mitigating circumstances requested by the defense, will announce its decision on the sentences.
The case came before the court following a complaint filed by the president of the Kastoria Agricultural Cooperative, who testified as a witness at the trial.
SOURCE: APE