Journalist and publisher of Documento newspaper and Hot Doc magazine, Kostas Vaxevanis, was arrested on Monday after former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras filed a lawsuit against him for defamation.
Vaxevanis was arrested the moment he was leaving the appeals court in Athens where judges acquitted him on the charges brought against him by the wife of Central Bank governor, Yannis Stournaras.
Vaxevanis was taken to Police station in Ambelokipoi district of Athens, a prosecutor will decide about the further procedure.
On Sunday, former New Democracy Prime Minister Samaras filed a lawsuit against Vaxevanis over a Samaras picture uploaded by the journalist on social media last week. The picture had a caption implying that the former prime minister was threatening those investigating the Novartis case.
Former PM Samaras is among the ten politicians named by protected witnesses and the corruption prosecutor who prepared the Novartis case file regarding alleged bribes paid by the Swiss drug-maker to Greek politicians and doctors to secure prescription of the company’s drugs and preferential treatment in Greece.
The caption was considered as “vulgar” and “provocatively insulting”.
On his Twitter account Vaxevanis wrote on Sunday that the picture was sent to him by a social media user.
On Monday, Vaxevanis’ Documento wrote that it was him who surrendered himself to authorities after the judges ruled on Stournaras’ case.
