Greek riot police assault, detain reporter Giorgos Androutsos at protest
Berlin, November 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the actions of riot police who threw reporter Giorgos Androutsos to the ground, beat, and dragged him, as he was covering a protest by firefighters in the capital Athens. “Greek authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the circumstances of riot police’s attack and…
Greece acquits 2 defendants over murder of crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz
Berlin, August 1, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Greek authorities to deliver justice for the 2021 murder of prominent crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz, following Wednesday’s acquittal of two suspected hitmen due to a lack of evidence. “We are deeply disappointed that the judicial process has ended with an acquittal and that those who…
CPJ, others condemn EU for ignoring Greece’s press freedom crisis
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 13 other press freedom and human rights organizations on Thursday in criticizing the European Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law Report on Greece for downplaying the deteriorating state of the rule of law in Greece at a time when media freedom faces dire threats. The EU’s annual assessment ignores the…
Greek journalist beaten on air while reporting from Athens fire
On June 19, 2024, Frixos Drakontidis was reporting live from the scene of a fire in Varis-Koropiou, a southern suburb of the capital Athens, when an unidentified man approached him and asked him to leave the premises of a company hit by the blaze. When Drakontidis refused, saying that he was a journalist with Protothema…
CPJ, partners call on European Commission to act on press freedom in Greece
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday joined 16 partner organizations in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, to ask her to hold the Greek authorities to account for press freedom concerns. CPJ and other organizations recently reported that Greece is the only EU country to currently have two…
CPJ presents joint report on declining press freedom in Greece
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other international press freedom organizations on Tuesday in a joint report after a mission to Athens in September 2023. The report concluded that Greece is the only EU country to currently have two open cases of impunity for the murder of journalists, and almost no other country in…
CPJ, others call for lawsuits against Greek journalists and outlets to be dropped
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined eight other international press freedom organizations in support of journalists and media outlets in Greece ahead of a series of abusive lawsuits filed by Grigoris Dimitriadis, former general secretary and the nephew of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Dimitriadis filed two lawsuits against newspaper EFSYN and online investigative portal…
Faces of impunity across the world
CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index lists the top 12 countries where the murderers of journalists go free. But impunity knows no borders. The mosaic below shows the faces of slain journalists around the world. Beneath each journalist’s photo is the location of their death. Click the images for more details about these unsolved cases. (Photo grid by Geoff McGhee)
Press freedom groups find Greek authorities failed to investigate journalist murders
Impunity in the cases of Sokratis Giolias and Giorgios Karaivaz underscores decline in media freedom in Greece Athens, September 29, 2023—A pattern of inaction and inadequate investigation from Greek authorities in the 2010 murder of Greek journalist Sokratis Giolias was revealed in an investigation published today by press freedom groups Free Press Unlimited, the Committee…
CPJ joins mission, press conference calling for decisive action to protect journalists in Greece
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other international press freedom organizations on Wednesday to call on Greek authorities to make a clear demonstration of political commitment to improve press freedom in the country and take specific measures in compliance with European standards to renew the trust of the media community. The groups’ press conference…