Greece's police minister said "all necessary sanctions" will be applied to police officers on the island of Crete for failing to arrest a drunk driver without a license who was later involved in a road accident that killed a young man.
The collision in the city of Chania in which the resident of this city, 22-year-old Panagiotis Karatsis, died, caused anger in Greece because some believe that the impunity of the local powerful played an important role in this case.
Namely, the local media reported that the suspect for causing the accident, whose name has not been published due to Greek regulations, is a well-known local businessman.
"It is clear that the law has not been applied," said today the Minister of Citizen Protection Mihalis Krisohoidis for the Greek television Sky and added: "There are various perceptions, habits, which sometimes exist in various local communities, in various services - and I am not saying that I wouldn't give anyone an excuse. There is no excuse for this."
Krisohoidis said that "all necessary sanctions will be applied to the police officers (who did not arrest the suspect when he was caught intoxicated, without a license) as soon as the matters are investigated through administrative and judicial procedures."
The traffic police stopped the suspected driver on Friday and subjected him to a breathalyzer test, which he failed, the police said, adding that he was driving without a license because it had been revoked, also for drunken driving.
Although the amount of alcohol in his blood was significantly above the legal limit, and despite the fact that he did not have a license, the driver was not arrested as required by law, but only given a fine, and the police gave the keys to his car to a passenger in the car, whom they found that he is sober.
However, the driver later took the keys back and then collided with the car driven by young Karacis.
Crete is notorious in Greece for traffic accidents on the roads. Greece is also near the top in the number of traffic accidents in the European Union.
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