Report: Six indicted for assassination attempt on award-winning Greek journalist

27 Feb 2014 | Greece

Athens, Greece. 29th October 2012 -- Greek Journalist Kostas Vaxevanis has his trial postponed. Stathis Kalligeris | DemotixSix people, including a member of Greece’s Secret Services, have been indicted for an alleged assassination attempt on HotDoc editor Kostas Vaxevanis, according to reports. Vaxevanis, who won a Guardian/Index on Censorship Free Expression Award in 2013, has faced pressure from Greek authorities since publishing the leaked “Lagarde list” of over 2,000 potential Greek tax dodgers holding money in Swiss bank accounts. The indictment relates to an incident on 9 September 2012 – a few days before the publication of the leaked list – when Vaxevanis raised the alert after encountering the men close to his home.

Read the full story here

Greek journalist Kostas Vaxevanis acquitted of privacy charges

27 Nov 2013 | News and features

Kostas-speechKostas Vaxevanis, the Greek investigative journalist who published the infamous “Lagarde list” of 2,000 Greek citizens holding Swiss bank accounts, has today been acquitted of charges of privacy breaches.

Vaxevanis was on trial after already having been found not guilty of “interfering with sensitive personal data” in November 2012. That decision was overturned by a district attorney and a fresh trial ordered. But today a court unanimously rejected the charge.

The HotDoc magazine reporter was the recipient of the Guardian/Index on Censorship Journalism Award in March this year. In a speech at the award ceremony in London, Vaxevanis said he was willing to go to jail to defend the free press, adding:

“I want to be a journalist in a country that is not afraid of the truth. I care for the truth of the people not that of a caste of corrupted politicians and businessmen. I do not want the people of my country to read foreign newspapers to learn what happened in their own country, as it was happening during the junta.”

Index on Censorship Chief Executive Kirsty Hughes said today:

“We are delighted that Kostas Vaxevanis has been acquitted. This was an outrageous case, but today is a good day for free expression in Greece, and throughout Europe.”