Ex-minister appeals to wife to return to mental care facility

Jailed ex-Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos on Thursday appealed to his wife, Viki Stamati, to return to the mental health facility she escaped from earlier in the day.

Stamati disappeared from the Dromokaitio mental care facility in the early hours of Thursday, a few hours after her fifth appeal from release from prison was rejected by judicial authorities. She had been receiving treatment for severe depression at the facility since November 2013.

In a statement from maximum security Korydallos Prison, the former defense minister said that in order for Stamati to be reunited with the couple's 9-year-old son she had to return and continue her treatment at the mental care hospital.