Shock, anger and fear prevail in Greek journalism community and society after the murder of the renowned journalist and blogger Sokratis Giolias. Journalists, ordinary people and politicians clearly condemn the heinous crime
Journalists are especially numb as they perceive the coward killing of Giolias as a warning message targeting to silent daring media voices, to manipulate and crack down democracy, to terrorise and strangle the freedom of the press.
Thousands of ordinary people flood via sms, e-mails and phone calls messages radio and TV stations, websites and blogs. People express their outrage and speak of “moral bankruptcy next to the financial one”, “mafia style execution with many recipients” and “efforts to muzzle investigative journalism” only to mention a few. Many doubt the murders will be found and refer to recent bomb attack at the office of Minister of Public Protection Mihalis Chrisohoidis.
Greeks have been getting more and more angry as corruption scandals come into the limelight since a couple of months. Coincidentally enough the scandals revealation come together with strict IMF-imposed austerity measures, so to say as a counterweight, strangling the income of millions households.
The police is speaking of a “very well organized” execution plan. Police has lifted the confidentiality of troktiko.blogspot and confiscated Giolias archives and PCs in order to find some possible clues on threats or significant scandal files. The main question is: who was annoyed by Giolias’ investigation?
Sokratis Giolias had no police protection unlike many prominent Greek journalists.
This is the first journalist assassination in Greece after 1948, when American journalist George Polk was murdered.
George Polk (17 October 1913, Fort Worth, Texas – May 1948) was an American journalist for CBS who disappeared in Greece and was found dead a few days later on Sunday May 16, 1948, shot at point-blank range in the back of the head, and with hands and feet tied. Polk was covering the civil war in Greece between the right wing government and communists and had been critical of both sides. He alleged that a few officials in the Greek government had embezzled up to $ 250,000 in aid (or $ 2.2 million in 2007 dollars) from the Truman Administration, a charge that was never proved.
Greek journalists have been victims of terrorist organisations but never one murdered due to ‘death contracts’ -if it is proven to be a death contract…. Some sports journalist was beaten in the past.
