Monitoring report: Defamation laws still concern for Europe media
January 30th, 2018
Reforms help Greek journalist avoid €100k libel suit Reporter says press law amendments can resolve conflicts before they reach court
Bittersweet end for Greek journalist who won libel trial but lost job Crete court upholds media's right to scrutinise activities of public officials
‘Frozen cases’ aim to chill investigative reporting in Greece Powerful libel plaintiffs employ procedural tactic to promote self-censorship, journalists say
Greek journalist’s libel conviction overturned on appeal Encouraging move should be followed up by repeal of criminal libel laws, IPI says
The International Press Institute (IPI) today welcomed an appeals court ruling overturning the criminal conviction of a prominent Greek investigative journalist for defamation.A three-judge panel of the Athens Court of Appeal on Monday unanimously threw out the conviction of Kostas Vaxevanis, editor of the investigative magazine HotDoc. A lower court sentenced him to 26 months in prison for defamation in March 2015.
How €3 million libel suit led a Greek journalist to fight for legal change 'No other colleague of mine will have to suffer the same nightmare that I went through'
One can only imagine the feeling of satisfaction and vindication that Greek journalist Dimitris Hortargias must have felt on Dec. 22, 2015, when lawmakers overwhelmingly approved critical reforms to Greece’s Press Law, widely known then as the “press killer”.
“All I was thinking on that day was that no other colleague of mine will have to suffer the same nightmare that I went through,” Hortargias said in a recent interview with the International Press Institute (IPI).
