The publisher and two journalists of a Greek newspaper that were detained on Saturday after Defense Minister Panos Kammenos filed a criminal lawsuit, were set free on Sunday.
Kammenos asked for their arrest over an article in the Greek daily Phileleftheros that alleges mishandling of European Union funds meant to improve conditions in migrant hotspots across the country.
The three were led to prosecutor on Sunday morning who ordered further investigations and set them free.
“There is a question of democracy when political power thinks it should denounce journalists it does not like. It is a shame for all those who tolerate this”, said Panayiotis Lampsias, editor-in-chief on Sunday.
Greek journalists detained and fingerprinted because the government doesn’t like their reporting. Ring a bell, Commissioner @TimmermansEU?#Φιλελεύθερος pic.twitter.com/XkX2URYGVM
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) September 22, 2018
Opposition parties have condemned the detention. Conservative New Democracy party accused the defense minister of “thuggery” and said the real issue was the mishandling of funds.
“Whether he wants it or not, [Kammenos] will be held accountable for the national shame that is Moria,” ND said in a statement.
“The same goes for his ostensibly left-wing sensitive fellow ministers who on a daily basis humiliate human existence and tarnish Greece’s image across the world,” it said.
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