Greece: CFWIJ Concerned Over Criminal Proceedings Against Investigative Journalist Ioanna Papadakou

Location: Greece, Athens
Date: January 24, 2022

Former investigative journalist and television host, Ioanna Papadakou, is due before the Greek Supreme Court on January 25, 2022, in connection with her coverage of a major corruption scandal. The journalist has been summoned on charges of fabricating news reports on corruption of Greek officials and businessmen and the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Novartis. The court proceedings are part of a wider parliamentary investigation into allegations of political conspiracy between former minister Dimitris Papagelopoulos and a list of influential Greeks accused of tax evasion. 

Ioanna believes that the criminal investigation has been launched against her due to her reports on the corruption of officials taking bribes from Novartis and tax evasion of wealthy and influential persons.  

“They are targeting me because I was reporting about people on the Lagarde-List and because I was a witness in the parliamentary inquiry,” she told the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The Lagarde-List comprises thousands of people, including about 2,000 wealthy Greeks, who had secret bank accounts in the Geneva branch of HSBC.

The journalist has extensively reported on the corruption case in which Novartis was closely involved. Moreover, she was accused of defaming Sabby Mioni, a Greek-Israeli businessman who reportedly was on the Lagarde-List. 

According to the OCCRP, Ioanna reported that Mioni had been investigated in the U.S. for tax-related offenses. The businessman retaliated to Ioanna’s reports by sueing her for defamation in London. He won the case in 2014 after she was unable to appoint lawyers to represent her.

Ionna, currently working in Brussels, had reported on the Lagarde-List in the newspaper “To Vima” and covered the story on Alpha TV. In a show called “Checkpoint Alpha”, the journalist had interviewed whistleblower Hervé Falciani, a computer technician for HSBC, who revealed the names of businesspersons with accounts at the bank’s Swiss branch. 

These revelations eventually led to a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations of political conspiracy by former minister Dimitris Papagelopoulos and Novartis, at which Ioanna testified for eight hours. As a consequence of this inquiry, former finance minister George Papaconstantinou was impeached and convicted in 2015. 

The list, naming many members of Greece's elite, was handed by the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to her Greek counterpart in 2010, but he took no action and later was accused of having removed some names from it.

Ionna filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, which deemed her case admissible a year ago.

Extending support to Ioanna, the Journalist Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) issued a statement maintaining that “reporting and investigative journalism, which are ingredients of free press protected by the Constitution, cannot be prosecuted”.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism views the charges brought forth against Ioanna Papadakou as deeply concerning for its implications on the freedom of the press. The case against her must be examined transparently and by an independent judiciary to ensure that the case is not politically motivated. It is extremely concerning that a journalist is being forced to face criminal charges for exposing corruption of officials. The CFWIJ is closely monitoring the case and urges Greece to ensure that the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech is upheld in this case. Journalists must be free to report wrong-doing by those in power without fear of retaliation by the authorities.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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