“What measures does the European Commission intend to take to protect investigative journalism and press freedom in Greece? », asked, Thursday, January 27, in the European Parliament, the deputies of Syriza, the main left-wing Greek opposition party. The question follows the opening, in Athens, of the trial of two journalists, Kostas Vaxevanis, publisher of Document, one of the weeklies most critical of the Conservative government, and Gianna Papadakou, who worked for the Alpha television channel for several years.
The two reporters who investigated corruption and tax evasion scandals involving senior politicians, including former health ministers of the ruling Conservative party, are being prosecuted for “dereliction of duty”, “participation in an organization criminal” and “participation in a conspiracy”, offenses punishable by twenty years in prison.
Kostas Vaxevanis had, following Syriza’s victory in the 2015 legislative elections, revealed the Novartis scandal in Greece: a dozen Greek political leaders would have received bribes to help the Swiss laboratory to market drugs with questionable healing properties, and to inflate its prices. In 2020, Novartis agreed to pay $347 million as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice, acknowledging making illegal payments to Greek healthcare providers and officials, but without disclosing the figures involved. in the case.
“Threatened by organized crime”
The conservative party currently in power has always accused the previous left-wing government of having orchestrated these revelations to harm it, by implicating eminent figures on the right, in particular Adonis Giorgiadis, current minister of development, or Dimitris Avramopoulos, former commissioner European. On Monday, the anti-corruption prosecution investigation, opened in 2016, closed the case concerning these two politicians.
Gianna Papadakou investigated the Novartis affair but also the so-called “Lagarde” list, which listed Greek personalities who placed their money in Switzerland during the economic crisis to avoid paying taxes in their country.
“It is staggering that a journalist might spend up to 20 years behind bars in Europe for doing their job », is alarmed Pavol Szalai, head of the European Union/Balkans office for Reporters Without Borders (RSF). “Journalists in Greece are currently threatened by organized crime and draconian measures. In Europe, Greece is at the 24e place out of 27 Member States in the ranking on freedom of the press carried out by RSF”, he adds.
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