FLASH
Shkruar nga Nektaria Stamouli
Until a few months ago, Greece gave an idea of how justice should be done. After the arrest and the start of the trial of Fredi Beleri, Athens launched an attack against Albanian justice. According to them, justice in Albania is captured by the government and acts unilaterally. But while speaking for others, Greece has not seen its justice. " Politico " has made a shocking article, where it shows how in fact justice is captured in Greece. According to the article, Greece allows criminals to escape justice.
In the famous birthplace of democracy, there is a sense that it is crumbling.
Greece has experienced a series of scandals that, although they are very different, add to a feeling that justice is collapsing and that those in power do not want to correct it. Or worse, they are guilty.
"There is a sense of a systematic and concerted effort to minimize some incidents," said Andreas Pottakis, Greece's ombudsman, an independent official who scrutinizes state maladministration. This raises "suspicions of an attempted cover-up" and negligence that "may involve political leadership".
Three major cases have tested the country's faith in its judicial structures over the past two years. Two of them are linked to disasters: A train crash in February 2023 that killed 57 people and a shipwreck off the coast of Greece's Peloponnese last summer that drowned hundreds of Asian and African migrants.
The other is a widespread spyware scandal involving the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Last week, a supreme court prosecutor cleared the country's politicians, police and intelligence services of wrongdoing.
In isolation, these may seem like the kind of unfortunate incidents that any government might have to deal with.
But their treatment has raised troubling questions. Opposition parties, victims' groups and independent investigators speak of a cover-up and claim that crucial witnesses have been blocked, legal documents ignored and victims sidelined. Parliamentary investigations have done little but muddy the waters.
"Giving a misleading impression of a well-functioning democracy, with parliamentary commissions of inquiry unable to effectively carry out their work, what is actually happening sometimes amounts to direct political interference and the neutralization of independent watchdog members. ", said Vas Panagiotopoulos, who covers Greece for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a non-profit organization that defends press freedoms.
Beyond the larger examples, Greeks perceive that public standards have eroded, where verbal attacks on journalists by high-ranking politicians have become commonplace, independent authorities have been undermined, some migrant returns have been claimed, police brutality is on the rise and civil society and media pluralism is under threat.
According to a poll conducted for the Eteron Institute to mark the 50th anniversary of Greece's return to democracy, only 29 percent of people trust the country's judiciary.
In an interview with POLITICO, Mitsotakis defended his country's record. "I have always believed that we should have faith in the Greek justice system," said the prime minister.
Train collision
On the night of February 22, 2023, a train collision killed 57 people, many of them students. As the dust settled on the deadliest rail disaster in Greek history, deeper concerns arose about the functioning of the state.
"The blame goes to the leadership and the people who were on the scene," said Evan Vlachos, who lost his 34-year-old brother, Vaios. "You look for someone who did their job right, for something that worked, and there's a complete collapse."
Critics talk of a cover-up, particularly of high-level mismanagement, and corruption in the railways.
This cover-up sometimes took a literal form: rocks piled up at the crash site, preventing experts from investigating the scene after the wrecked wagons were removed.
This came as the families of the victims were still hoping to find their remains.
It is not yet known who gave this order, although the families of the victims say they know the identity of the minister and will testify in court.
Based on Greek law, only the country's parliament can investigate alleged misconduct by former ministers; the EU prosecutor's office says the rule contravenes EU law and has raised the issue with the European Commission. In response, Mitsotakis has accused European prosecutor Laura Kövesi of interfering in an ongoing case and exceeding her powers.
In his interview with POLITICO, Mitsotakis said the justice system had acted swiftly in the case and that his government had made significant efforts to ensure that the verdicts were reached.
"Besides, there are also constitutional limitations," he said. "So we're at the limit of what our constitution allows us to do."
Greek media have revealed that conversations between the train driver and the station commander from the night of the accident have been combined and provided to pro-government media to create the impression that the accident was entirely due to human error.
The spyware scandal
Skandali i spiunazhit i Greqisë, i quajtur "Predatorgate", shpërtheu në verën e vitit 2022 kur Nikos Androulakis, kreu i partisë social-demokrate të opozitës PASOK, zbuloi spyware të paligjshëm në telefonin e tij në një tentativë përgjimi. Më pas u zbulua se ai gjithashtu ishte monitoruar nga agjencia shtetërore e spiunazhit.
Që atëherë, saga është shndërruar në një thriller spiunazhi, në të cilin Predator, një formë shumë invazive spyware, u zbulua në dhjetëra telefona që u përkisnin ministrave, shefave ushtarakë, gazetarëve dhe njerëzve të biznesit. Ai përfshinte gjithashtu eksportin e paligjshëm të programeve kompjuterike në regjimet diktatoriale.
Dy vjet më vonë, autoritetet gjyqësore i pastruan të gjithë zyrtarët shtetërorë dhe shërbimet shtetërore nga keqbërjet në atë që partitë opozitare e quajtën "një ditë turpi".
Një raport nga një zëvendësprokuror konfirmoi se nga 116 objektivat e spyware, 28 numra telefoni ishin nën mbikëqyrjen e ligjshme të shtetit në kohën e tentativës për piratim. Por Gjykata e Lartë e hodhi poshtë gjetjen si një "rastësi" dhe dosjet që përmbanin materialin e vëzhgimit në fjalë u shkatërruan.
"Ka një zhgënjim të madh në lidhje me hetimin gjyqësor, veçanërisht kur kuptuam se sa prova zbuloi hetimi gazetaresk që vërtetonin lidhjen midis shërbimit të spiunazhit, zyrës së kryeministrit dhe Predatorit u injoruan," tha Eliza Triantafyllou, një reportere për investigimin e faqes ueb Inside Story.
"Pyetja që lind është se kush do t'i mbrojë në fund gazetarët grekë nga një shtet që i konsideron ata një rrezik kombëtar dhe i monitoron me çdo metodë të disponueshme vetëm se bëjnë punën e tyre?" pyeti ajo.
Triantafyllou dhe kolegu i saj Tasos Talloglou zbuluan se ishin vënë nën vëzhgim fizik gjatë raportimit të skandalit.
Fundosja e varkës së emigrantëve
Në qershor të vitit 2023, një peshkatore nga Libia u përmbys në brigjet e Greqisë me rreth 750 emigrantë në të; 104 u shpëtuan dhe 82 trupa u rikuperuan. Pjesa tjetër supozohej e humbur.
Ka kaluar një vit dhe organizatat ndërkombëtare vënë në dukje se roli i autoriteteve greke ende nuk është hetuar siç duhet.
Të mbijetuarit kanë dëshmuar se roja bregdetare greke e kishte lidhur me peshkatoren kur ajo ishte ende vertikalisht dhe ka tentuar ta tërhiqte, duke e bërë të lëkundej. Autoritetet e mohojnë me forcë këtë.
I mbijetuari Ahmad Alkimani, 25 vjeç, nga Siria, tha se peshkatores iu hodh një litar.
"Ndjeva një tronditje," tha ai. "Ndaloi shpejt sepse litari u këput. E lidhën shpejt dhe me forcë të madhe filluan të na tërhiqnin dhe anija u anua majtas. Njerëzit filluan të bërtasin, por ata vazhduan të tërhiqeshin, këtë herë në të djathtë, derisa u përmbys."
Frontex, the EU's coastguard agency, said it had received no response from Greece after it offered to send a plane to monitor the overburdened trawler. Frontex's fundamental rights officer, Jonas Grimheden, recommended the temporary suspension of the agency's activities in Greece.
The families of the victims and survivors are taking legal action against anyone in Greece deemed responsible for the sinking of the ship.
"They are stuck in a long legal process, but they want to move forward," said Maria Papamina, a lawyer for the Greek Refugee Council, one of three organizations providing legal aid to survivors. They are suffering from the psychological consequences of the accident and at the same time they have to find a way to financially support the families they left behind. / Adapted from " Politico "
Lini një Përgjigje