Greek Police Arrests Journalist For Leaking List Of Tax Evaders
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A Greek journalist has been arrested for publishing a list of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks, including several politicians and prominent business leaders, who had all allegedly stashed funds in Swiss bank accounts, reported Reuters on Sunday.
Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor of the Hot Doc weekly magazine, was reportedly arrested in Athens over the weekend after police had stormed his house while he was in the middle fo a live radio interview.
A Greek journalist has been arrested for publishing a list of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks, including several politicians and prominent business leaders, who had all allegedly stashed funds in Swiss bank accounts, reported Reuters on Sunday.
Kostas Vaxevanis, the editor of the Hot Doc weekly magazine, was reportedly arrested in Athens over the weekend after police had stormed his house while he was in the middle fo a live radio interview.
“They’re entering my house with the prosecutor right now. They are arresting me. Spread the word,” Vaxevanis tweeted, as cited by the New York Times, comparing the police officers to be “like Greek storm troopers in German uniforms.”
Vaxevanis, who runs Hot Doc and is one of the nation’s most famous investigative journalists, was later released from Athens police headquarters on Sunday, but is due to face a magistrate at noon on Monday to answer charges of privacy violations.
“He (Vaxevanis) published a list of names without special permission and violated the law on personal data,” a police official told Reuters.
“There is no proof that the persons or companies included in that list have violated the law. There is no evidence that they violated the law on tax evasion or money laundering,” the official added.
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A former Greek culture minister, several employees of the Finance Ministry and a number of business leaders were included in the list of 2,059 names published by Hot Doc. The list had apparently been handed over to Greek Authorities by former French finance minister – and current IMF managing director – Christine Lagarde more than two years ago, and there has been questions over why the government has yet to act against any of the offenders.
According to the Wall Street Journal, former Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos had also initially denied the existence of the list but turned over a copy to the prime minister’s office last month after speculation over its whereabouts grew.
Venizelos claimed last week that he could not act on the list as legal advisers had told him that the information – which was leaked by a HSBC employee – was illegally obtained and thus could not be used.
Still, Vaxevanis launched a vehement defence of his decision to publish the list and slammed the government for “trying to arrest the truth and free journalism.”
“I did nothing other than what a journalist is obliged to do. I revealed the truth that they were hiding,” Vaxevanis said in a video obtained by Reuters.
[quote]”If anyone is accountable before the law then it is those ministers who hid the list, lost it and said it didn’t exist. I only did my job. I am a journalist and I did my job.”[/quote]Related: Tax Evasion in Greece Seems a Popular Sport 😉
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Hot Doc and Vaxevanis have now insisted that they were given the list by “one of the people who had received it.” The magazine also denied charges of violating privacy laws as they had deliberately left out financial and personal details from their publication.
The publication was also careful not to make specific accusations of money laundering and tax evasion, but rather pointed out that while it was legal to own a Swiss bank account, the Greek government has done little to investigate the matter.
Vaxevanis was arrested for “effectively serving the public interest,” added Yanis Varoufakis, a professor of Economics at the University of Athens, to RT News.
“Let’s not beat about the bush. The great problem with tax evasion in Greece…it is one of the reasons that Greece is being portrayed internationally as a corrupt country, and Greeks on the streets who pay their taxes, work very hard and are suffering are incensed at how they are portrayed internationally,” Varoufakis said.
[quote]“The fact is that for the last 30-40 years, the rich in Greece has enjoyed a kind of tax immunity. They’re not really tax evaders, they’re immune from tax because of the cozy relationship that they have with politicians who legislate in a way that makes that tax immunity,” he continued.[/quote]Watch – Video by Kostas Vaxevanis talking about the list and the attempts by the Greek government to silence the press (with English subtitles):
