The verdict comes on top of the judicial decision announced earlier in the week to absolve the Greek intelligence service in "Predatorgate," a case where reporters were wiretapped.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 31 July 2024.
The two brothers accused of the 2021 assassination of reporter Giorgos Karaivaz have been declared innocent following a trial held under troubling circumstances. The verdict, given on 31 July, comes on top of the judicial decision announced earlier in the week to absolve the Greek intelligence service in “Predatorgate,” a case where reporters were wiretapped. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the Greek authorities to put an end to impunity for crimes committed against journalists.
On 31 July 2024, after a month-long trial, the mixed jury court in Athens — made up of professional judges and jurors — acquitted the two brothers accused of killing Giorgos Karaivaz, a veteran crime reporter, on 9 April 2021. The court ruled that their guilt had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt, contrary to the prosecutor’s request of conviction.
“This is a sad week of impunity for crimes committed against Greek journalists. The acquittal in the case of the murder of Giorgos Karaivaz comes on top of the judicial decision not to prosecute the Greek intelligence services in the Predatorgate scandal. We reaffirm our support for the family and colleagues of Giorgos Karaivaz, and will not rest until justice is done. We call on the Greek judicial system to do everything in its power to put an end to this intolerable impunity, starting with the despicable murder of this journalist.”
Pavol Szalai, Head of the EU-Balkans Desk at RSF
The trial of the two brothers took place in worrying circumstances. A week before the verdict, the prosecutor announced that evidence in the case, a CD containing data from the journalist’s phone, had been damaged: it had been pierced by a stapler. However, on 23 July, the judge read out the list of Giorgos Karaivaz’s Whatsapp contacts stored on the CD, which included the numbers of two high-ranking government officials: Panagiotis Kontoleon, the former director of the Greek intelligence services (EYP), and Grigoris Dimitriadis, nephew and former secretary general of the Greek prime minister’s office, which had the EYP under its authority. They resigned in the wake of the Predatorgate scandal in 2022.
Despite journalistic investigations revealing the secret services’ involvement in the illegal surveillance of reporters and politicians, on 30 July the Greek Supreme Court decided not to prosecute the EYP. The investigation had been riddled with problems and politically sabotaged. The trial did not reveal any link between the surveillance and the killing, yet the judicial decisions handed down within a day of each other serve as an overall reminder of the urgent need to end impunity.
Ranked 88th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Greece remains the lowest-ranking country in the European Union for the third consecutive year.
