EP Resolution on Rule of Law & Freedom of Press in Greece Reaches Council of State (CoS)

A resolution passed on Thursday by the European Parliament (EP) condemning the Greek state over the Rule of Law and Press freedom, among other things, was forwarded to the Greek Council of State (CoS), the country’s Supreme Administrative Court, Friday evening in Athens.

The highly critical document, which was supported by 330 deputies in the EP plenary and opposed by 254, was submitted to the Deputy Prosecutor of the CoS Achilleas Zisis, who is in charge of an ongoing investigation regarding illegal wiretapping and eavesdropping by the Greek state – one of the issues covered in the resolution – by MEP Georgios Kyrtsos via his legal representative.

The MEP’s authorized lawyer, Giannis Mantzouranis, with the Renew Europe MEP, stated: “It is requested that the criminal indictment of the case of illegal wiretaps under your jurisdiction be correlated so that it is taken into account in forming your judicial conviction along with the rest of the gathered evidence.”

Georgios Kyrtsos appears to be one of the victims implicated in the wiretapping scandal in Greece, which became known as “Predatortgate”. It should also be noted that the Greek MEP had his immunity lifted in a vote in the EP plenary this week for failing to pay a specific amount owed to the Greek State.

The matter appears to have frustrated the Geek government as a barrage of statements from government officials tried to downplay the significance of the resolution while deflecting from the substance of the harsh document.

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis emphasized that the resolution of the European Parliament is not a condemnation, while also expressing concern about Greece’s funding.

“In Article 22, the resolution requests the blocking or reduction or restriction of Greece’s funding from the EU. Greek MEPs requested that European funds not come to Greece, questioning Greece’s funding, with what they slanderously claim Greece should do rather than what applies,” claimed the government spokesperson speaking to ANT1.

“There is the EU’s annual report,” the government spokesperson added later. “The last report from July says Greece has made progress, based on the framework adopted after 2019,” he said, reiterating the argument that Greece has many media outlets and that “there are extreme headlines and everything circulates in Greece.”

As for SLAPP lawsuits, such as those conducted by Grigoris Dimitriadis – the former chief of staff of the PM- he noted that “every citizen has the right to sue and is potentially a defendant.”

Source: tovima.com