Once Russia bailed out their banks they have pretty much faded from my news pages, except for this:
"Former Cypriot defense minister guilty in blast" by Menelaos Hadjicostis | Associated Press, July 10, 2013
LARNACA, Cyprus — A criminal court on Tuesday found a former defense minister guilty of manslaughter in the 2011 explosion of confiscated Iranian munitions that killed 13 people and badly damaged the country’s main power station.
The three-judge panel ruled that Costas Papacostas, 73, was responsible for the safeguarding of some 80 gunpowder-filled containers and was aware of the dangers posed by the munitions, but failed to take action to prevent the detonation.
A public inquiry into the causes of the blast found that the gunpowder had spontaneously combusted after becoming unstable from prolonged exposure to wide temperature swings.
The containers had been left piled on top of one another in an open field inside a naval base for more than two years.
The gunpowder was seized in February 2009 from a Cypriot-flagged ship suspected of transporting them from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza through Syria in breach of a United Nations ban on Iranian arms exports....
Papacostas was taken to Nicosia General Hospital after strong chest pains shortly after entering Cyprus’s central prisons complex, where he is to remain until his sentencing later this month.
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"Cyprus ex-defense minister gets 5-year jail term over blast" Associated Press, August 03, 2013
NICOSIA, Cyprus — A Cypriot criminal court on Friday sentenced the former defense minister to five years in prison in the 2011 blast of 480 tons of seized Iranian gunpowder that killed 13 people, knocked out Cyprus’ main power station, and stirred up a political crisis.
The three-judge bench sentenced Costas Papacostas, 74, after finding him guilty last month of negligent manslaughter for not taking steps to prevent the explosion.
The 80 containers were piled up in a field at a naval base for more than two years. Authorities said that prolonged exposure to wide temperature swings made the gunpowder unstable and that the spontaneous combustion of one container triggered the disaster.
Officials had warned of the risks that such storage conditions posed. The starkest warning came a week before the fatal blast when some of the gunpowder detonated in a container at the top of the pile.
The gunpowder was confiscated in 2009 from a Cypriot-flagged ship suspected of transporting the material from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza through Syria in breach of a United Nations ban on Iranian arms exports.
Yeah, I know.
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As usual, the Jewish agenda tastes like shit.
