In a democracy, the media must control authority and government. In Greece, we increasingly have the impression that it is the opposite.
Take the story of Thanasis Koukakis, a 43-year-old financial journalist who works for CNN Greece and contributes to CNBC, the Financial Times and the Greek investigative outlet Inside Story. Citing national security concerns, Greece’s national intelligence service directly administered by the Prime Minister’s Office intercepted his communications in 2020, while investigating the affairs of Greek bankers and businessmen. When the journalist learned of it, the government tried to erase traces of the interception. Shortly after, his cell phone was infected with Predator spyware. The software allows the user to gain full access to a target’s phone to extract data, contacts and messages, including those sent via encrypted apps, as well as turn on the microphone and access on camera.
Koukakis is not the only victim of a National Intelligence Service interception. The journalists of Solomona team of investigative journalists investigating the situation of migrants in Greece, Iliana Papangeli and Stavros Malichudis also discovered that they had been subjected to surveillance by Greek intelligence services, which monitored their work with minors on the island from Kos.
Shortly after the two men discovered the Secret Service’s interest in their reporting, they broke another story, about a migrant housing NGO with possible ties to political figures. The answer? A SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).
In another case, Stavroula Poulimeni, a member of a journalists’ cooperative called AlterThess, was sued by a gold mining executive convicted of serious environmental crimes in northern Greece. The businessman accused him of having processed his “sensitive personal data” by citing his previous criminal conviction.
The government appears to approve of such legal maneuvers. A new law authorizes the National Council on Radio and Television (NCRTV) to impose recurring administrative fines on newspapers for defamation. NCRTV is responsible for channels using public frequencies. This worries the Athens Daily Journalists’ Union, which says the new regulation directly violates articles relating to press freedom enshrined in the Greek Constitution.
Under the law, fines will be claimed by majority shareholders when the newspaper’s publishing company fails to pay and will be collected by the private monopoly distributor Argos, owned by a pro-government media mogul. The journalists’ union says the new rule threatens the viability of media outlets, especially smaller and independent ones.
Similar alarm was expressed by Media Freedom Rapid Response, a group that monitors press freedom in the European community. “The challenges to media independence and the safety of journalists are systemic in Greece,” a recent statement said. report.
He says information embarrassing to the government, including investigations into serious human rights violations, is not widely reported. This constitutes a significant barrier to public access to information and, therefore, informed participation in the democratic process.
According to the MFRR immigration policy, the human rights violations committed during its implementation and the humanitarian crisis created by the migratory flow are very sensitive topics for the government. Journalists face obstacles including arbitrary arrests and detention, restricted access to migration hotspots, surveillance and harassment when attempting to cover these topics. And even when independent journalists rely on official information, they encounter a complete lack of transparency or even refusal to provide information.
Chasing the messenger: the Vaxevanis and Papadakou cases
In January, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis survived a vote of no confidence tabled in parliament by the left-wing opposition over the government’s handling of a snowstorm that paralyzed the country. In a speech to parliament, Mitsotakis called the journalists who exposed the Novartis corruption scandal in Greece a “gang” “free to denigrate their reputations” – a term interpreted as simply an attempt to influence the justice system.
Prosecutors had summoned Kostas Vaxevanis, editor-in-chief of the Documento publication, and Yianna Papadakou, a former television presenter, to the Athens Supreme Court a few days earlier. They accused the two journalists of crimes related to their reporting on government officials, including former ministers, who allegedly accepted bribes from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis to control the prices of certain drugs.
The accused politicians have rejected the accusations, saying they were politically motivated. And this despite the fact that the US Department of Justice imposed a fine of $347 million on Novartis in 2020, due to this affair. Without disclosing any names, the company admitted to making illegal payments to Greek suppliers.
The anti-corruption prosecutor’s investigation, which began in 2016, closed the case against two Greek lawmakers in January. However, a second investigation continues in Greece, focusing on an alleged frame-up involving a former minister, the corruption prosecutors who investigated the Novartis affair and the two journalists.
Participation in a criminal group, collaboration in wrongdoing and two counts of complicity in abuse of power are among the allegations against the journalists. According to a new provision of the penal code approved only a few weeks ago, minor offenses linked to a “criminal group” will now result in real prison sentences.
In other words, Papadakou and Vaxevanis, who extensively covered up the Novartis scandal, face prison time. Such lawsuits could indeed set a troubling precedent. It also raises concerns about whether whistleblower witnesses in the case against Novartis will continue to be considered credible or whether they will also be charged.
It is worth noting that Greece was one of 17 European countries that failed to integrate a new whistleblower protection directive into their legal system and is now under pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the burden by reducing journalists’ right to access information.
Last year, Reporters Without Borders ranked Greece 70th in its global press freedom index, five places lower than in 2020. The country’s position has continued to decline over the previous decade, a trend that is likely to continue, judging by recent events.
The government fiercely denies these accusations, stressing that pluralism is achieved in the country. But democracy is safeguarded when the press is free to speak truth to power. It should not be up to the courts to define and decide.
Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Values and Transparency, openly warned that “the 2022 rule of law report will pay particular attention to developments relating to press freedom and the safety of journalists.”
These concerns became particularly worrying in the case of the murder of police journalist Giorgos Karaivaz outside his home a year ago. Despite pressure from Greek and European journalists’ associations, the case has made little progress and those responsible have not been brought to justice.
Even conservative politicians are now expressing concerns about press freedom in the country, suggesting, what many of us fear, that Greece’s conservative government has been seduced by the conservative populist shift in European countries and is not try harder to be part of the party. the so-called moderate liberal conservative milieu.
The trend in Greece is indicative of a broader tension rising in some EU countries around the rule of law and the protection of freedoms – the EU’s core values. But the situation in Greece is becoming particularly grim when it comes to press issues, as problems pile up, gradually attracting the interest of more media freedom advocates. Seven groups, including Reporters Without Borders and the European Federation of Journalists, now express “serious concerns” about Koukakis’ case. The Greek government should do more to protect press freedom.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
