Greece Suppresses Free Expression
Tyranny rules Greece.
by Stephen Lendman
Ordinary Greeks face deepening Depression conditions. At a time vital help is needed, force-fed austerity is policy. Corrupt governance mandates it. Severe repression targets resisters. Now they've got another woe. Press freedom isn't tolerated.
A previous article explained. Whistleblower/journalist Costas Vaxevanis faces charges of violating state privacy laws. He'll be tried for truth-telling. More on that below.
Greece is bankrupt. Vital social services are vanishing. Ordinary people face extraordinary hardships. Corrupt governance makes things harder by punishing them. Human deprivation is more than many can bear.
At the same time, privileged Greeks manage fine and then some. When billions of dollars in aid is needed to keep the economy from collapsing, their wealth is hidden safely offshore in tax havens.
Much of it is questionable. Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. Greeks aren't exceptions to the rule. Hiding wealth automatically makes it suspect.
Tax avoidance compounds other potential criminality. Government officials ignore it. Doing so makes them complicit. What have they got to hide? Answers needed aren't forthcoming.
Vaxevanis learned what's going on and exposed it. Privacy laws weren't violated. No personal data was revealed. Allegations of criminality weren't made.
Vaxevanis did what's expected from all journalists - his job. He justifiably called for an investigation. Doing so got him arrested and bogusly charged with violating state privacy laws.
Revealing potential tax cheats is essential. Doing it in a country reeling from debt problems takes on greater urgency. If convicted, Vaxevanis faces up to two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine.
Democracy's birthplace tramples on principles it once embraced. Police state repression, corruption, and indifference to human need replaced it.
In charging Vaxevanis, government officials targeted press freedom. Destroying free expression endangers all other rights. They're vanishing in Greece, other European countries, America and Israel.
Call it Western civilization's darkest hour. Disturbing as things are now, expect much worse ahead. Vaxevanis and others like him represent a shot across the bow. Anyone can be arrested for any reason or none at all. That's how police states operate.
Vaxevanis has supporters. On October 31, Russia Today (rt.com) headlined "Show-stopper: Greek journalists go on strike, alleging state censorship," saying:
