Former Greek Minister Valyrakis Found Dead at Sea Valyrakis

Sifis Valyrakis was found dead at sea. Credit: AMNA

Former Greek Minister Sifis Valyrakis, who had been missing since Sunday at noon was found dead in the sea off Eretria, on the island of Evia.

The 77-year-old former PASOK minister was aboard an inflatable boat near the small island of Pezonisi.

According to sources, the inflatable boat was found stranded by people aboard another boat, near the islet of Aspronisi.

The engine of the boat was working normally, while inside the boat there were two spearguns.

The Coast Guard operation to locate the former Minister began on Sunday afternoon with the participation of two boats from a Navy helicopter and a team from the Submarine Missions Unit.

Later on Sunday, the body of the former Minister was found near the island of Pezonisi about a mile away from his boat.

According to Coast Guard officials, Valyrakis most likely slipped from the boat for some reason and fell into the sea.

Minister and resistance fighter

Valyrakis was minister of public order, in charge of the security and intelligence services, from March 1995 to January 1996.

Earlier, in the 1980s and 1990s, he had been Deputy Public Order Minister, Sports Minister and Deputy Transport and Communications Minister in the Socialist governments of Andreas Papandreou, from 1981-89 and 1993-96.

He fought against the military junta in Greece from 1967-74, being arrested and tortured for this by the ruling regime.

He escaped from a Corfu jail, and swam several kilometers to Albania, only to be arrested as a spy and sentenced to three years of hard labor.

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