Ioannis Kefalogiannis


Ioannis Kefalogiannis was a Greek politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1958 to 1964, and again from 1974 to 2004. During this time he was briefly Minister of Public Order, Minister for Tourism, and Minister of the Interior. His daughter is the Cabinet Minister Olga Kefalogianni.

Legal Problems

Greek Special Crimes Task Force officials accused Kefalogiannis of asking them to alter their deposition against a cannabis grower so that he could be acquitted, in exchange for the appointment of an officer's wife in a public service post and a favorable treatment for all of them within the police force. Kefalogiannis dismissed accusations, putting them down to a plot against him.
The case took place in late 2003, when Kefalogiannis was still a deputy of the governing New Democracy party.

Trial and sentence

On 23 September 2008, a Rethymno city court found Kefalogiannis guilty of attempting to harbor a criminal and of instigating others to commit perjury, and handed him a one-year suspended prison sentence. Kefalogiannis denied all the charges and said he would appeal. He accused the prosecutor of attempting to slander his name and claimed the trial was politically motivated.
The Prime Minister's office announced that Kefalogiannis would abstain from his duty as the PM's advisor until the probe was completed. Nevertheless, Kefalogiannis' case caused great discomfort to PM Costas Karamanlis' government. On 19 December 2008, the appeal was heard and Kefalogiannis was sentenced to a 5-mοnth suspended prison sentence.