For the first time since the shocking murder of the journalist George Karaiwaz, his son Dimitris broke his silence and spoke about the case.
Ο Dimitris Karaiwaz, in a touching but meaningful interview, spoke about his father's attitude towards journalism, the reasons that led to his murder, and the demands he and his family have from the government.
It is worth noting that the fact that Dimitris Karaiwaz chose to give an interview to International Journalism Institute (IPI) and the journalist Jamie Wiseman, and not in a Greek media. IPI is the largest and oldest international journalists' association and has taken an extremely keen interest in the murder, pressing the government at every turn to speed up the investigations.
Responding to whether the family of George Karaiwaz has received support since the murder, his son Dimitris says: «The support has not been the greatest, but it has not been little. From the first moment we made it clear that we did not want money to feel supported. What we wanted was to send a message that my father's murder should not make people afraid. His murder is an inspiration, a hope because he showed that one man, just with his pen, as he poetically said, can change the world and make it a better place. That's what we wanted to see heard around the world. That's the support we wanted from Greece and from other countries. But we didn't see it in the end. We did not see hope spring from my father's death. We saw fear and prejudice».
«My father didn't believe in guns»
Speaking about the causes of his father's murder, Dimitris Karayvaz speaks with sensitivity, clarifying that his father did not carry a gun because «he didn't believe in guns.».
«We have no idea what the cause of the murder was. He wasn't looking for anything in particular at the moment, as far as we know. He's been the target of contract killings by terrorist organizations and mobsters before. But at this point, no one had tried to intimidate him, as had happened in the past. It was a backstroke figuratively and literally,’ he explained to IPI and continued:
«I don't believe that what killed my father was a person, a gun, or even a criminal «mastermind». What killed him was the systemic problems my father was fighting against. Even if the specific person who gave the order to kill my father, his killers, and the murder weapon did not kill him, something else would have killed him. Because my father wasn't fighting a particular person, he was fighting a systemic problem, and as long as that systemic problem remains, no one can guarantee the life of my father or anyone else who truly believes in justice and the revelation of truth.».
Dimitris Karaivaz explains that her demand from the government is to solve the problem of organised crime as a whole.
«What I would like to see from the government is to focus on the real problems and not to blame individuals, who obviously have responsibilities that need to be assigned, but to look beyond that: what can we do to prevent this from happening again? Can we blame a man? No, because someone else will take his place. We have to do something deeper than that! Something is wrong! This is what the authorities and the government should try to fix.».
«The channels lie to have good relations with the government»
What Mr. Karaiwaz says about the attitude of the media in favour of the Mitsotakis government is extremely interesting, citing information he has received from an informant.
«The biggest problem since my father's murder is the freedom of the press, because if you can't trust that journalists will tell the truth because they are afraid, then who are you going to trust? That's the main reason we are afraid: because we don't see the willingness of many people to tell the truth. I know from a whistleblower that even in cases that have no evidence of a crime, such as political “stumbles”, the channels are forced to lie by their managements in order to have good relations with the government. This should not happen. A journalist's job is to tell the truth, perhaps sometimes even his own opinion. My father felt he had to. We see cases of people who are prevented from speaking, like my father, because they are going to challenge someone who has political power. This happens all the time.».
