NSW: Greek consular general fails to get urgent hearing

AAP General News (Australia)
02-17-1999
NSW: Greek consular general fails to get urgent hearing

SYDNEY, Feb 17 AAP - The Greek consul-general in Sydney today failed to get an urgent
hearing of a case in which she is suing a Greek-language newspaper for defamation.

Rose Ieremia claims the Nea Patrida (New Country) newspaper accused her in a 1997 article
of - among other things - being corrupt, being involved in a tax scam and of having an illicit
sexual affair with a man while living with her husband.

Ms Ieremia had asked the New South Wales Supreme Court to speed up the hearing of her claim
against publishers Theodore Skalkos and his company Foreign Language Publications Pty Ltd.

Justice David Levine said Ms Ieremia wanted the case dealt with before she left the country
for a posting, probably to Greece, by December 31 this year.

"The imputations against her both personally and in her capacity as a consular officer are
very serious and it is her wish to leave this country and her acquaintances and colleagues in
Australia as a vindicated person," the judge said.

But he said inconvenience to Ms Ieremia's personal affairs was not sufficient to warrant
expedition.

"Mere inconvenience and some disruption to one's personal affairs including the necessity
to travel from abroad to have a case heard, by themselves are not sufficient to warrant the
expedition to the disadvantage of other cases."

Justice Levine said other cases no doubt had equal if not greater urgency in terms of
damages for people who had suffered grave physical injury.

He ordered Ms Ieremia to pay the defendants cost of the expedition application and
adjourned the matter until March 5.

AAP cmm/sb/cjh

KEYWORD: CONSUL

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.