Cypriot ex-minister fined over letter

A Cypriot judge Monday fined former Health Minister Constantina Akkelidou $2,000 for trying to intervene in favor of an alleged drug addict.

Akkelidou resigned her cabinet post Friday after the Nicosia District Court ruled she had interfered with the course of justice by sending a letter to a judge in Larnaca, Tereza Paraskevaidou-Karakanna, who was trying the alleged addict.

It was the first time in the republic's history a cabinet minister was convicted of a criminal offence, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Akkelidou had asked Paraskevaidou-Karakanna to go easy on the defendant, whom the Cyprus Weekly described as a reformed drug addict. She said she feared a conviction would impede his rehabilitation.

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, who had criticized the decision to try Akkelidou, reluctantly accepted her resignation.

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