In a lawsuit against the Prime Minister, the Costas Vaxevanis, following his statements Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Parliament, in which he circumvented the presumption of innocence, describing the journalist and his colleagues as a gang and underworld. Beyond the moral issue of a Prime Minister using his position in an unprecedented way to slander those he opposes and, above all, to interfere with justice, there is a serious legal issue. Since 2019 Greece has been in line with the European Directive (2026/343 EU) on the presumption of innocence, which provides that:
«A suspect or accused person has the right to bring a claim for damages due to the violation of the presumption of innocence by statements made by public authorities (according to Article 7 of Law 4596/2019)».
Even before the adoption of this provision, the last time the Prime Minister and the Minister of the New Democracy spoke from the floor of the Parliament about fraudsters and underworld, while there was no final decision, Greece was condemned in the ECHR for violation of the presumption of innocence - A. 6§2 ECHR (Case Consta v. Greece, 53466/07).
In the case of Documento, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is also a close friend and associate of Frouzis, according to emails exchanged between them, revealed by the newspaper. Mitsotakis had falsely stated that he did not know Frouzis. After the revelation of the relationship between them, Kostas Vaxevanis and Documento were dragged to court and were irrevocably acquitted, while the court in its decision certified the relationship between them. In other words, it is proven that the Prime Minister also has special relations with the protagonists of the Novartis scandal and goes beyond his role in order to strike at those who brought them to justice.
The Prime Minister said yesterday in Parliament (a few days before the journalist testified before the investigating judge)
«One in Special Court and the others accused or suspects. Not for their opinion, mind you, not for their opinion, but because they published false evidence to set up false accusations. That is why they are called as suspects, not for their opinion. That's not called journalism, that's called a gang. It's not called free press, it's called free murder. That's the underworld you're in bed with.’
He not only adopted the accusations against Vaxevanis, which he himself and the Southwestern party had caused, but also slandered and insulted him, directly violating the presumption of his innocence and implicitly but clearly urging the justice system to turn further against him, describing him as an underworld and a gang.
According to the provisions of the law, apart from Mitsotakis, the Greek State is accountable for the Prime Minister's statements and for this a lawsuit will be filed in the administrative courts, but also Mitsotakis himself personally and for this a lawsuit will be filed against him before the Civil Courts.
Also for a number of violations that took place against Kostas Vaxevanis, an appeal will also be made to the European Court of Human Rights.
