erected The Mall. The agreement between the Greek state and Lamda focused on the construction of a housing complex to accommodate a number of foreign journalists during a 15-day period. In exchange, the state changed the laws so that Lamda could build a giant shopping center on land which it did not own, under terms not allowed by the Greek Constitution. "The largest illegal construction in Europe"? The Mall scandal involves Spiros Latsis and his corporation, members of both major Greek political parties (including the former and current Prime Ministers), their government ministers (who introduced legislation contrary to the Constitution), the local mayor, Mr. Tzanikos (who came up with the idea for the construction and is currently being sued in court) and, last but not least, the president of Athens 2004, Gianna Angelopoulou. Against them, stood only a handful of citizens along with some members of the judiciary. Following a motion brought by a citizen, Dorilaos Klapakis, the Greek Supreme Court (SC) ruled in 2003 that the laws passed for The Mall were indeed unconstitutional and ordered the cessation of its construction. Lamda corporation and the state (ministries in charge and the police) ignored the ruling, so construction proceeded regardless. Over the next 3 years, major Greek politicians tried to fight the SC’s decision and avoid further legal repercussions by introducing legislation, contrary to the Constitution but favorable to the Mall, and then ruling the new laws untouchable by the Greek Supreme Court. In November 2005, one year after the Olympic Games, The Mall is inaugurated. Tens of stores and movie theatres, including multinational brands, operate illegally and without a license in spite of the police having pressed charges against them. The Mall also served at the time as an experiment in labor market conditions: within The Mall, the branch of Eurobank Ergasias, a bank also owned by the Latsis Group, operated for a while on Saturdays, in violation of labor legislation and with the acquiescence of the government. Moreover, Lamda has yet to meet most of the commitments it made towards Athens 2004, the local authority and the public organization that owned the land, when it was awarded the "Media Village" project in March 2002: - Instead of hosting 6.000 journalists, as originally planned, the Media Village accommodated a mere 1.000. - The land purchase was only settled in early 2006. That means that the Mall was being built