Evangelos Basiakos

New Democracy MP and former minister Evangelos Basiakos died of a heart attack on Friday at the age of 63.

ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was "deeply shocked" at the death of a "friend and comrade who, as an MP and minister for ND governments, served the real needs of the people and our country."

The phenomenon of appropriating state land is huge in Greece, according to figures submitted in Parliament yesterday by Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis.

Even local authorities have been found to have usurped state land, while in Attica alone eight out of 10 state properties have been breached by private parties.