Greek Professor Barred From America

A Greek professor of economics with ties to a radical left-wing organization was stopped at John F. Kennedy International Airport and sent home to Athens after American authorities questioned him and Customs and Border Protection discovered problems with his visa.

John Milios, an associate professor from the National Technical University of Athens, was traveling to a conference at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. "After being detained for a number of hours at the airport, I was then questioned by the FBI and ultimately sent back to Athens by the border police," Mr. Milios said in an e-mail message sent to colleagues.

According to an account Mr. Milios gave to the Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia after his return to Athens two weeks ago, FBI agents held him in a private interrogation room for several hours and asked him about his political beliefs. The agents asked Mr. Milios if he belonged to any political organizations, Eleftherotypia reported, as well as his role in them and whether they had any links to terrorism.

The FBI agent Mr. Milios spoke to told him he "did not have any problem" with him and that his case would be taken up by CBP, Eleftherotypia reported. CBP told Mr. Milios there were "discrepancies" in his visa, according to the newspaper account.

A spokesman for the FBI's New York office, James Margolin, said he could not comment on the record about individual cases unless they become part of the public record.

Mr. Milios said in the e-mail that the questions about his politics were "repellent," calling them "a clear clue of the extremist right-wing policy of the present-day U.S. administration." Mr. Milios had traveled to America on the visa several times, he said, and he called the American Embassy in Athens before he left to make sure it was still valid. He said the visa was issued in November 1996 and was due to expire in six months.

A Stony Brook professor, Michael Zweig, who organized the SUNY conference, "How Class Works," said yesterday that Mr. Milios was not told the precise nature of the visa discrepancies.

Mr. Zweig, who said he has spoken to Mr. Milios on the phone and exchanged emails with him since the incident at JFK, said that even though Mr. Milios was not told he was being blocked for political reasons, "the fact that he was questioned as to his political beliefs and political affiliations is completely unacceptable."