In Greece, the «executive state,» you don't need proof.
You need a leak.
And if it doesn't apply, it doesn't matter, it will be corrected.
Like the mistake in the soup, a little too much salt, but it was edible.
Faced with unprecedented mass and militant agricultural protests, the government decided that dialogue was too time-consuming.
and the truth negotiable.
So he chose the old, tried and tested weapon: mudslinging.
A «random» and «selective» leak to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, which coincidentally is under the close supervision of the Prime Minister's Office, informed the country that a well-known agricultural union leader, Malgaros blockade, is being prosecuted for felonies, fraud, and European money.
No name was mentioned. It wasn't necessary.
The photograph was taken so that everyone could recognize the face.
There was just one small problem: the news wasn't true.
No criminal prosecution.
No category exercises.
No jurisdiction for this particular prosecutor.
Only an incomplete preliminary investigation and an account freeze, an administrative act, not a criminal one.
But communication does not love details.
He loves impressions. And when reality began to burst the bubble, the familiar ritual of «correct repetition» came into play.
Two hours later.
After all, the mud had already made the rounds of the news bulletins, websites, and coffee shops.
The prosecution disappeared.
The felony was obscured.
The shadow remained.
Because shade is what we want.
No proof needed.
All it takes is suspicion.
At the same time, the agricultural union leader himself complains that Maximos
She didn't remember him at first as a «suspect,» but as someone useful.
Telephones.
Pressures.
Prayers.
«Help us engage in dialogue.» «Talk to them.» «You're one of us.».
And when he didn't become theirs, it made headlines.
And here begins the monologue.
Because these are not just communication errors.
It is a political method.
A government that is not persuaded by requests, but frightened by disobedience.
Who can't stand the roadblock and tries to break it in the news.
Who does not converse with society, but whispers accusations.
They are not bothered by illegality.
Visibility bothers them.
They are not afraid of crime.
They are frightened by the example.
Because if one farmer can stand up, others can too.
And then the boot is not enough.
You also need a pen.
And a microphone.
And «sources.».
That is the real crime: not the money, not the subsidies, not the files.
But the fact that some people did not bow down.
And in the military, disobedience is not forgiven.
Corrected.
With a leak.
