A heated debate is unfolding that is likely to have an immediate impact—if nothing else—on the practice of journalism, as Subpoena of journalists and investigators who covered the Novartis case, following the Supreme Court's decision to summon the Kostas Vaxevanis and Yianna Papadakou, who are accused of felonies.
Η Special Investigator under the Law on Ministerial Responsibility, Konstantina Alevizopoulou, which has taken over the case with the former Deputy Minister of Justice as the main person under investigation, Dimitris Papangelopoulos, began issuing summonses to non-political figures to appear for questioning. As is well known, four defendants have already been summoned, including journalists Alexandros Tarkas and Gianna Papadakou while he also received a call from Kostas Vaxevanis, publisher of the newspaper Documento.
From the very moment he was summoned, Kostas Vaxevanis referred to his involvement, writing: «Mitsotakis is setting up his own isolated enclaves. It’s not exactly news. Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for this from the floor of Parliament. Adonis Georgiadis has already announced it on social media, writing, «Tick-tock, tick-tock, get ready for jail.»”. The New Democracy party itself has framed it as an accusation even though there is no accusation.
Just the day before yesterday, once again, the Minister of Development announced that Vaxevanis would be summoned by the investigating judge in the Novartis case. After all this, the justice system is simply doing its job—which, as it turns out, is nothing more than that—, rather than teaching a lesson to anyone who dares to expose and demand punishment for the misappropriation of public funds. Nothing has changed, but nothing is the way it used to be either. »Mitsotakis's son, following the family tradition of using the justice system as a tool, is setting up courts to target his opponents.".
The publisher has been summoned to appear in court on January 19, 2022, to answer charges of complicity in abuse of authority, complicity in repeated breaches of duty, and participation in a criminal organization or gang.
As expected, the issue took on political dimensions, with SYRIZA accusing the government of having consistently sought, from the very beginning of its term, to portray the «scandal» as a conspiracy.
«Summoning journalists to appear before the authorities for engaging in critical, investigative, and combative journalism traps even the institutions of justice within the toxic climate that the government has created. In modern Greece, which is facing the multiple crises created by the New Democracy government, the citizens’ democratic vision does not include turning a massive scandal into an unprecedented major institutional crisis of freedom of speech and journalism »for the sake of Mr. Mitsotakis and his vindictiveness toward those who hold him accountable rather than fawn over him,", SYRIZA’s Justice Spokesperson, T. Xanthopoulos, noted in particular.
The New Democracy party responded immediately, stating that «it is unacceptable for the Official Opposition party, in order to defend Mr. Vaxevanis, to question the independence of the Supreme Court.».
It should be noted that journalist Gianna Papadakou has been given a deadline to appear for questioning in late January, as she has filed an appeal seeking to have the summons to appear for questioning overturned.
The ESIEA Board of Directors had issued a statement on the matter, expressing its concern about the action. «The ESIEA expresses its support for Gianna Papadakou, a member of the Union, and emphasizes that reporting and investigative journalism—which are integral components of freedom of the press, protected by the Constitution—cannot be called into question,» the statement read, among other things.
By Antonia Xynou
