Announcement regarding SLAPP lawsuit against a journalist and its partial acceptance by the court

The treatment of investigative journalism as a threat and the vindictive lawsuits and lawsuits against journalists create great concern, not only for the violation of their rights, but above all for the future of press freedom in Greece. Lawsuits against journalists because of their research or criticism of issues of public interest are SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) cases aimed at intimidating as well as morally and financially eliminating the defendant journalists.

The lawsuit of a high-ranking executive of Hellas Gold against the journalist of Alterthess, Stavroula Poulimeni, is another such case. The plaintiff sought €100,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage for a journalist’s report on the conviction of Hellas Gold executives for water pollution in Northern Halkidiki and other violations of environmental legislation. According to reports that followed the ruling, the court partially upheld the lawsuit, stating, among other things, that the journalist unlawfully processed his personal data by registering his conviction in the report without obtaining his explicit consent. The court ordered the journalist to pay €3,000 to compensate for the plaintiff’s non-pecuniary damage.

The protection of investigative journalism is a key element for the protection of rights in our country and at the Hellenic League for Human Rights we have repeatedly dealt with the issue by publicly intervening with announcements  and events. We call on the state to take immediate measures to protect investigative journalists in the direction of the relevant Proposal for a Directive and Recommendation 2022/758 of the European Commission on the protection of public figures, journalists and human rights defenders from manifestly unfounded or abusive judicial proceedings.