The Doudonis-Hiotis confrontation highlights the selective and hypocritical sensitivity of PASOK on press freedom issues.
In the line of selective sensitivity is probably, once again, the attitude of some – especially those in opposition – towards freedom of the press and the limits of journalistic criticism. Many times, perhaps, the same practices are judged by different standards, as when lawsuits come from the wrong side, they are dubbed “SLAPP” and attempted gagging, when their case… benefits them, they are treated as a normal and even necessary exercise of a democratic right.
In this context, the confrontation between Panagiotis Doudonis and Vassilis Chiotis is also part of the debate. The sending of an out-of-court letter by PASOK MP Panagiotis Doudonis to the director of the SKAI radio station, Vassilis Chiotis, caused strong reactions both in the media and on social networks. The incident, in fact, opened a new cycle of debate on whether such moves constitute a legitimate reaction or a form of pressure on journalism.
Vassilis Chiotis himself made public the lawsuit and the lawsuit he received, commenting meaningfully: “As we say on our island, ‘there goes he, he burned his little field’,” while posting an excerpt of the lawsuit, he added ironically: “A calm voice in the new generation of politicians. Without persecution complexes.”
At the same time, however, for earlier cases, as some point out, PASOK and especially N. Androulakis appeared to be the preachers of the need for journalism to be protected from gagging strategies, the notorious SLAPPs.
For example, many recall that when Grigoris Demetriades went to court (to protect himself) against journalists, the practice was described by some as SLAPP and an attempted gagging.
In fact, of particular interest are earlier statements by PASOK President Nikos Androulakis, on the occasion of Gregory Dimitriadis’ lawsuit against journalists. As he noted at the time, “it was investigative journalism that revealed crucial aspects of the scandal of illegal surveillance, one of the sickest cases of human rights violations, undermining the rule of law and democratic institutions.”
Mr. Androulakis also stressed that “a direct attempt to silence and intimidate journalists is the scathing lawsuit by Grigoris Dimitriadis against the “Newspaper of the Editors”, Reporters United and Thanasis Koukakis”, adding that “a year and a half later, no responsibility has been attributed to the perpetrators of this scandal and the government has orchestrated their cover-up”.
In short, it was obviously SLAPP then, now that one of his MPs is in the spotlight there is no problem! Hence the following (rhetorical) questions effortlessly arise: Can a legal action qualify as SLAPP depending on who is exercising it? Or is the press freedom debate being selectively instrumentalised depending on political expediency?
In any case, the Chiotis-Doudonis case is a reminder – as political actors underline – that the opposition is attempting to redefine, at will, the limits of press freedom, adopting different measures and weights depending on the political stakes and the persons involved.
At the same time, however, while PASOK is dealing with impressions and SLAPPs, the trade unionists of ANTARSYA, especially the notorious doctor Panos Papanikolaou, has gone off the rails. Addressing KKE MP Liana Kanelli, he went on a vulgar attack because the latter, commenting on SKAI on the condition of the Deputy Minister of State under the Russian Prime Minister, Giorgos Mylonakis, said that “I understand what it means to have a stroke from a bloated staff, from malignant pegs.”
And Mr. Papanikolaou, who crossed the line by showing the true face of the extra-parliamentary Left, wrote: “No, dear, you have understood nothing. Nor what an arterial brain aneurysm is. Nor that your government has very recently set up an operation to dismantle Interventional Neuroradiology, as the Hellenic Society of Radiology, the Hellenic Society of Neurosurgery, the OENGE and the HINAP have documentedly denounced. Nor that preventive screening with MRI brain angiography saves lives because it finds the aneurysm before it breaks. Nor that your government denies this preventive screening so that it is not spent on the lives of commoners because it has thieving state-sponsored capitalists and opecops to feed. You only understood the unscientific politically spraying sober bullshit of Coulis. Hail Koutsoubas.”
By Alexandros Diamanti
Source: tomanifesto.gr
