Politico: Greece, the country where you evade justice

In her country of birth democracythere is a sense of wear and tear. This is how Politico’s article on Greece and justice begins, on the occasion of three major cases that have rocked Panhellenic society: Tempe train tragedy causing 57 deaths, the sinking of the Pylos ship, causing 82 deaths, and the wiretapping case.

“Greece has been through a series of scandals that, while different, give the impression that the justice system is breaking down and that those in power don’t want to fix anything. Or worse, they’re guilty,” the publication said.

“There is a sense of a systematic, concerted effort to downplay certain events,” said Andreas Pottakis, an independent ombudsman charged with investigating government mismanagement. That raised “suspicions of an attempt to cover up the truth” and oversights that “could cause concern among the political leadership.”

Three major cases in the past two years have tested the country’s confidence in its judicial structure. Two were disaster-related: a train crash in February 2023 that killed 57 people, and A shipwreck off the coast of the Peloponnese Last summer, hundreds of Asian and African migrants were presumed to have drowned in Greece.

another, The Politico newspaper continued, is a widespread spyware scandal that has embroiled the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The High Court prosecutor acquitted the politician. The country’s police and intelligence services are protected from crime.

A worrisome issue

If such incidents were viewed in isolation, they would have been encountered by governments in multiple countries around the world. However, Politico said the way they handled them raises troubling questions.

Opposition parties, victims’ families and groups set up by independent investigators all talk of a cover-up, the suppression of witnesses, the neglect of legal documents and the marginalization of victims. The report says the parliamentary inquiry has done nothing but muddy the waters.

According to a survey conducted by the Eteron Institute on the 50th anniversary of Greece’s return to democracy, only 29% of citizens trust the country’s judicial system.