Sakellariou steps down as Council of State president

Nikos Sakellariou announced Wednesday he was stepping down as president of Greece's highest administrative court, in the first such resignation in the court's history. 

In a 3-page public statement, Sakellariou said his decision was in protest at recent leaks of classified information on Council of State sessions deliberating the legitimacy of the so-called Katrougalos law which introduced a recalculation of pensions.

The top judge said he had been unable to control this "unthinkable and unacceptable" breach of confidentiality, adding that it had seriously undermined the image of the court.

"It does not allow me to perform my judicial duties with the due calm and sobriety," he said, adding he was resigning with a clear conscience.

Sakellariou said he had from early on pointed out that several aspects of Greece's bailout agreement were "not...