Former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias has revealed that during his tenure as minister he referred to a prosecutor dozens of cases of individuals involved in an illegal network that included diplomats and issued visas to unaccompanied children.

In a news conference at the offices of the Union of Athens Dailies’ Journalists (ESIEA), Greece’s largest journalists’ union, Kotzias said that, “Visas for unaccompanied minors points to organ trade, and hence I have no burden on my conscience, as I know that I contributed to saving a few souls.”

“I do not agree that we did nothing. What about the 93 cases that I sent to the prosecutor regarding criminal code violations, and certain diplomats who went to jail because they were issuing visas to unaccompanied minors? Do you know what visas for unaccompanied children means? It spells organ trade. Just the fact that I saved a few souls will allow me to rest peacefully at the end of my life,” the former foreign minister said.