The 31-year-old Hellenic Police non-commissioned officer, who attempted to obtain medical leave by submitting false medical reports to the competent police health commission, has been sentenced to a redeemable 18-month prison term by the independent single-person misdemeanor court in Thessaloniki.
The accusations
The court found him guilty of a total of three acts, namely moral turpitude in issuing a false medical certificate (accompaniment), attempting to obtain a false certificate and giving false testimony (accompaniment), without recognizing this as a mitigating factor. As the legal conditions for the suspension of the sentence for 3 years were not met, it was decided to convert it to 10 euros/day, with its execution having suspensive force until the Court of Appeal.
By decision of the Hellenic Army Headquarters, he has been suspended and a disciplinary investigation is being conducted against him.
The case came to light following an investigation by the Internal Affairs Service of the Northern Greece Security Forces. According to the records, the accused police officer had recently submitted medical reports that falsely claimed he was suffering from “acute back pain” and would therefore have to remain strictly bedridden and on medication for 20 days.
“He has been absent for more than 160 days in the last 2 years”
In his testimony in court, the chairman of the committee responsible for granting sick leave said that after a relevant investigation it was discovered that the deputy director had received more than 160 days of sick leave during the last 2 years. As reported by the same witness, citing mobility problems and inability to move, the defendant did not appear at the health committee for an examination, so an order was given for a competent doctor to go to his home to examine him, but he was not found at home, but persistent calls were made, both on the doorbell and on his cell phone.
“The next day the vice-principal came to the committee on crutches, which surprised me, because I had never seen anyone with back pain come on crutches, as the doctor did not recommend it. He told us that he would do an MRI, so we postponed it. He had some hernias, pressing on some nerves, one of them was on the opposite side where he was limping. It could justify back pain, but not a person on crutches,” the doctor-witness testified.
“He used crutches before entering the Police Station”
Under these circumstances, the “incorruptible” EL.AS was ordered to place him under discreet surveillance, and it was found that he was walking normally, having been absent from his home for several hours. The countdown to his arrest began on the morning of last Wednesday, when, attending another examination scheduled by the competent health committee, he arrived by car at the Police Station, where he parked the vehicle, walked normally and shortly before passing through the main gate began to use crutches, testified a second witness who works at the Internal Affairs Department.
“We saw him enter using the crutches and when he left the GADT and the target was out of sight, he picked them up again and walked to the car. All of this is in the visual material that was handed over,” he continued in his testimony.
Your lawyer spoke of “direction.”
The accused doctor did not appear in court and was represented by a lawyer. Through his lawyer, he filed a request to postpone the trial so that a medical examination could be carried out, but this was denied. In his appeal, his defense attorney denied any wrongdoing and, citing, among other things, previous statements by the 31-year-old’s family, said that his client had suffered from lower back problems since he was 15.
He said the officer was “targeted” because of his ability to serve in key positions in the past. He characterized as false what was reported about his officer about his work the previous summer at a shop in Mykonos. “He was found on this particular island in 2018-2019, serving there in a police station,” he noted.
The city prosecutor had also previously called for his guilt, although it is noted that a separate case is being opened against the private doctor who allegedly gave him the medical opinions.
AMP Source