The major issue of the state of freedom of the press in Greece and evidence that testified to its constant deterioration over the last 5 years, has shown SYRIZA President PS, Socratesat a meeting he had today with representatives of the Human Rights Watch organization.
Socrates Famellos emphasized that, both from the findings of the organization’s report and the SYRIZA-PS-processing processes, “it appears that there is a systematic harassment of journalists in our country” which includes, from malicious software to online attacks.
Generally, he argued that there is “a centralized media landscape, which undermines both the pluralism and the independence of journalism”. He noted that “journalists are exposed to attacks. The legal arsenal is not sufficient, while there are also deficits in terms of the regulation, control and transparency of the media. “
Socrates Famellos praised the organization’s legal proposals so that “the journalists in the bullying lawsuits are not unattended to be silenced and to have real independence, pluralism and transparency in the country’s briefing.”
The president of SYRIZA-PS, stressed that “Mr Mitsotakis’ government chooses not to have a pluralistic or independent information in our country. The issue is linked to the deficits of the rule of law in Greece, and has also been an element of the European Parliament’s report, which the government did not accept, despite the fact that it depicts the real picture. ” Recalling that Greece is in the last place in the EU, based on the global index of freedom of the press, Socrates Famellos linked this situation with corresponding phenomena of attacks on the rule of law, such as the proclamation of a political prosecution against him by the government’s propaganda mechanism.
The meeting was attended by the East Attica MP and a SYRIZA-PPS spokesman, George Karameros, the Deputy Press Spokesman, Grigoris Theodorakis and the President of the President’s Press Office, Christos Kymbizis.
The Human Rights Watch was represented by Senior Researcher for Europe, Eve Kosse and Senior Legal Advisor, Aisling Reidy.