Ex-defense minister released from pre-trial detention

Former PASOK defense minister Yiannos Papantoniou was released from pre-trial custody on Tuesday after spending 17 months behind bars, following a decision by a council of misdemeanor court judges to accept his request to pay the 150,000-euro bail by July 1.

The court had already accepted his release on conditions but it had not taken place because, according to Papantoniou's lawyer, Mihalis Dimitrakopoulos, the former minister didn't have the bail money.

Papantoniou has denied accusations that he laundered 2.8 million euros in Swiss Francs, allegedly pocketed in exchange for securing a contract in 2003 to upgrade six Hellenic Navy frigates.

He and his wife Stavroula Kourakou were remanded in custody in October 2018 and the latter released in March of 2019.

The court also ordered him to stay in the country and appear at his nearest police station.