A composer and performer was convicted on Monday to four months imprisonment for defacing the Greek flag, the image of which he used for advertising, replacing the Orthodox cross on the upper left corner with the Communist hammer and sickle sign.

Jimmy Panousis, a self-styled iconoclast composer and performer, was however acquitted of charges of aiding and abetting those who actually placed the advertising posters on street corners and light posts around Athens. Panousis appealed and was released.

Speaking, during his defence, Panousis said that he is an artist and not a criminal, adding that the people place limits to his art and not the state.