His intention to appeal to the courts if the author of the Kythera.News article On the issue of the accumulation of bins on the Panagiotis Koronaios-Poulakis pier in Agia Pelagia, «did not immediately retract his lies» about the pollution of the coastline by waste, as expressed in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening, May 3, by the mayor of Kythira, Eustratios Charhalakis.
Referring to this post, he states that he has informed the publisher of Kythera.News that «the contamination and pollution of the seashore due to rubbish bins» at this particular location «constitutes slander,» he indirectly but clearly admits that he is the sender of the messages, which the publisher and owner of the website, Ippolytos Prekas, revealed and denounced yesterday, in an article.
The following is the statement by the mayor of Kythira:
«Yesterday, the website kythera.news published this photo showing foam from the 12-meter waves in Agia Pelagia (months ago), linking it to contamination and pollution of the shoreline due to trash bins. I immediately informed the representative of the site that this constitutes slander and that criminal charges will be sought. We do not allow anyone to hide behind fake news, arbitrary interpretations, and misleading reports to serve whatever they think they are serving. Furthermore, we would like to inform you that, according to the established case law of the Supreme Court, the warning of legal action does not in any way constitute a threat but is a clear democratic right of every citizen. This article created a false impression among citizens that the trash bins at the port of Agia Pelagia are causing “contamination and pollution of the foreshore.” I do not know whether the author of this article has legal journalistic status, which will be verified by the competent authorities, but if he does not immediately retract his lies, I will take legal action. It is all well and good to preach about the independence of the media, but this must be accompanied by an expression of abhorrence towards fake news and the distortion of the truth. Otherwise, it is completely hypocritical.»
