Two judges of the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court, have resigned after the court president’s decision to thwart the first critical conference on television licenses.
Christos Rammos and Katerina Sakellaropoulou, both vice-presidents, in their resignation letter criticized the decision of Council of State President Nikos Sakellariou to cancel the critical session for the television license tender and their colleagues’ act to take publicly the side of Sakellariou.
The two vice-presidents characterize the court president’s decision as a “denial of justice.”
On Friday the Council of State president made an official announcement that he cancels the conference because of the negative climate that has been generated around the controversial television license tender.
“In view of the climate that has been created in the last few days, and particularly because of several public statements and events regarding the outcome of the deliberations of the Council of State session for pending cases in regards to the broadcasting licenses, the Chairman of the Council of State ruled that the planned (from 09.13.2016) conference on these matters must be canceled,” was the statement by Sakellariou.
At the same time, the Union of Council of State Judges issued a statement agreeing with the “bad climate” reasoning the chairman claimed. However, only two judges signed the statement, claiming that their view represents the view of all judges.
Rammos and Sakellaropoulou reacted, stating caustically that this is the first time the association of Council of State judges “virtually became the press office of the President of the Council of State.”
The two judges claim that the decision to cancel the session undermines the credibility of the institution and at the same time reinforces the belief held by many Greeks that the justice system is lacking transparency.
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