Grete Chan, 29 October 2012
Photo Credit: The UK Guardian
Subsequent to the surfacing of Lagarde’s List of 2,000 Greek citizens with Swiss bank accounts harboring deposits of up to 1.5 billion, the Greek journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, editor of the Greek magazine Hot Doc, was arrested due to breaches of the data privacy law. The police claimed that by releasing individual citizen names, it is a breach of their privacy.
In a challenge to the authorities, a major Greek newspaper, Ta Nea, reprinted the names. It devoted 10 pages to the list. Vaxevanis claimed that he was exercising press freedom by publishing the list.
The list has drawn criticism from both opposition parties, as well as politicians within the governing coalition. Most comments link the failure to track down possible tax evasion by those on the list to the government’s preparations to introduce new austerity measures to secure international aid.
The British National Union of Journalists has condemned the arrest and is now working with partner organizations, the International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists, to register its condemnation of the arrest.
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