wipes out journalists.
Now, Kostas Vaxevanis is a well-known
journalist who is being persecuted by the
Occupied Greek Government, or as it's known
in Greece, the Tsolakoglou, for publishing a
list of HSBC Swiss bank account holders.
So, he sent an open letter to the EU, just so that
Barosso can't manipulate his words. And he
said many things which, in the need to build an
argument, may be excused, if you can stop
laughing long enough to type it. Case in point:
"[Greece] claims to embrace European democracy "
Although the Tsolakoglou is very corrupt, I think
it's extra funny that Kostas would say that, seeing
as Barosso and Co. are presiding over the deaths
of Greeks, at the behest of the banks. I'm pissing
myself laughing. European democracy,ppffffft.
So Kostas wrote this "if anything happens to me,
tell my mommy" letter to tell the Capo Di Tutti
Commissioni about how his underlings, the
Tsolakoglou, are being wiseguys. OOOooh.
Not too smart, Kostas.
Checkit: index
on censorship
An
open letter to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso
04
Jun 2013
Dear
President Barroso,
I
will be standing trial on 10 June because, as a journalist, I published the
names of Greek bank account holders contained on the Lagarde list in my
anti-corruption magazine, HOT DOC. I am being accused of violating privacy
laws.
On
28 October, a special section of the Hellenic police, under orders from the
public prosecutor’s office, arrested me before the ink was dry on the issue of
the magazine containing the names of people who should have been investigated
for alleged tax evasion.
I
was ushered hastily into a trial which ended with my acquittal. The court found
that I had violated no privacy laws. I had published only the names of people
who held bank accounts at HSBC without any other details, such as the amount of
their deposits. My argument to the court was that someone’s relationship with a
bank is not a personal detail, since no one covers their face to walk up to an
ATM. The court also accepted my contention that there were reasons of public
interest for the publication of the names on the Lagarde list.
As
you may already know, a disk with the names of the Lagarde list was officially
handed over to the Greek government for purposes of investigating corruption
and tax evasion. This investigation never happened because ministers said the
list is illegal and cannot be utilized. They reached to the point of claiming
that they’d lost the data.
The
lack of an investigation created an atmosphere of mistrust in the political
system. Greek governments appeared to be protecting alleged tax-dodgers making
the public angry. At the same time, behind the scenes, the list was being used
for blackmail and defamation.
At
HOT DOC, we decided to publish the list as soon as we reached the conclusion
that the data we had was valid. This was our duty, as citizens and as
journalists. This is when we found ourselves confronted with the events
described by the New York Times and other international media: “Instead of
hitting tax evasion, they chose to hit the journalist who exposed it.”
The
Lagarde list is not only a list of potential tax dodgers. It captures the way
corruption functions in Greece—with, unfortunately, the support of the
political system.
After
I was acquitted, the public prosecutor’s office did something unheard of in the
annals of the judiciary for a court chaired by a single judge. They appealed my
acquittal, claiming that not all the incriminating evidence was taken into
consideration. The original case file did not include a single element of
evidence, not even the incriminating issue of the magazine. The charges were so
hastily put together that they even forgot to put the official stamp of the
prosecutor on the file.
President
Barroso, this is a targeted and selective persecution against a magazine that
fights corruption. We had to be punished. Since HOT DOC published the Lagarde
list, three Greek newspapers also published lists of taxpayers who are being
investigated. One of the papers even ran the Lagarde list names with the amount
of individual deposits. No charges were brought against them.
The
trial on 10 June is not my trial but the trial of the independence of the Greek
press. The current climate is asphyxiating freedom of the press, as independent
media is heavily indebted and owners of
TV channels pressure the government for contracts. Greece ranked 71st in
press freedom this year, behind several developing
countries and military regimes. A Greek minister recently said he would sue
The Guardian for revealing that Greek police were using torture.
Everyone
is entitled to their opinion with regard to addressing the Greek crisis. But
the crisis cannot be addressed without democratic principles. Greece is drifting away from the standards of western
democracy as they were established after World War II. Truth in the media
is the first victim.
I
would like you to know that, if I am found guilty, I will not ask for a
suspension of my sentence. I will let myself be taken to jail. This is the only
way for me to show what is truly happening in this country, which has its roots
in ancient Greek democracy and claims to embrace European democracy. A corrupt
system of power in my country is persecuting me for the very same reasons for which I was awarded two international
journalism prizes this year.
I
believe that Europe is able to preserve democracy, to highlight its
civilization and to unite its citizens. This cannot be achieved when people are
not free and when the press is silenced.
Thank
you for your attention.
Kostas
Vaxevanis
Kostas
Vaxevanis is a Greek investigative journalist and Index on Censorship
Award-winner.
