The journalist was arrested at 11 am on Sunday, after the prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for him for violating the law on personal data protection. Some minutes earlier, he wrote on the social network Twitter his address in the suburb of Drosia and informed that there were about 15 policemen in front of his house. "Let them walk in and catch me on the day of the historic "No" to fascism like the former supporters of the Germans."
There was another "twit," in which Kostas Vaxevanis informed his followers that the police were already in the house and ready to capture him. "They are getting in along with a prosecutor. They are arresting me. You should spread the news."
The journalist was taken to the police headquarters of Attica and then, to the Evelpidon court complex and he was released afterwards. Today at twelve o’clock, he will appear before the fast track court, which will determine the date of the trial of the journalist.
A "Group in support of Kostas Vaxevanis" was immediately formed on Facebook and SYRIZA’s deputies Rena Dourou, Panagiotis Lafazanis and Panagiotis Kourouplis as well as representatives of the journalistic union in Athens and the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists' Unions had gathered in front of the court.
They urged their members to gather today and to protest again.
Kostas Vaxevanis arrived at the court shortly before twelve o’clock. About 100 members and supporters of SYRIZA, representatives of journalists' associations as well as reporters from Greek and foreign media had been already awaiting him there.
He entered the courtroom where his lawyers asked for a several days’ continuance. The court accepted the request and the trial is expected to take place on Thursday, 1 November.
As one of the lawyers and former chairman of the left party Synaspismos (now SYRIZA), Nikos Konstandopoulos, explained, "We asked for continuance because Kostas Vaxevanis did not commit an offense that can be tried under the fast track procedure. Furthermore, we want to point out the real political dimensions of this case."
According to the other lawyer of the journalist, Harris Ikonomopoulos, the request for continuance is related to the will of some of those on the controversial list to appear as witnesses for the defence. In his words, the presentation of data, which have not been investigated over the last three years, was particularly important to the public interest.
Upon leaving the court, Kostas Vaxevanis was greeted with applause. In his statements to the media, he said, "These days, an attempt was made to present me as the person responsible for the publication of personal data, while Mr. Venizelos lost the flash stick containing the list in the lavatory. This is not serious. Over the past two years, they have been trying to "cover" this very serious issue by using different legal methods and referring constantly to the rule of law."
Kostas Vaxevanis said he has published the list for the same purpose. "Furthermore, I would like the prosecution to show the same concern against the newspaper of Ta Nea, which published a few days ago the incomes declared by over 100 singers. No investigation was started then. Today, the newspaper published the whole "Lagarde list" without any legal consequences again." Minutes after the distribution of the magazine in kiosks, the information portal zougla.gr published the list with no consequences to its owner again.
At the end of his speech, the publisher of the Hot doc magazine paraphrased a George Orwell’s saying, "Journalism is to reveal the truth when others are trying to hide it. Everything else is public relations."
Kostas Vaxevanis is one of the most famous representatives of investigative journalism in Greece. He hosts the "Pandora's box" show of the public television channel NET. He was a war correspondent in Bosnia, the Persian Gulf, Palestine, Kurdistan, Albania, Kosovo and Iraq for the private television channel Mega and the public television channel NET. He worked in most of the major print media as well.
By deciding to publish the "Lagarde list," he confronts some of the most powerful economic factors in Greece. Among the 2,059 names are those of:
GRReporter’s content is brought to you for free 7 days a week by a team of highly professional journalists, translators, photographers, operators, software developers, designers. If you like and follow our work, consider whether you could support us financially with an amount at your choice.
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
