The long-awaited trial of the shock murder in 2021 of a prominent Greek crime journalist opened Wednesday, only to be postponed owing to an absence of witnesses, the victim’s family lawyer said.
Giorgos Karaivaz, 52, was gunned down in broad daylight in April 2021 outside his home in an Athens suburb by two men on a motorcycle.
Two brothers aged 41 and 49 were arrested last year and charged with voluntary homicide.
Karaivaz family lawyer Antonis Xylourgidis told AFP the trial had to be pushed to July 5 owing to the unavailability of three police officer witnesses.
Karaivaz’ assassination was a major contributing factor in press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) placing Greece in last place among EU states in its annual press freedom report.
The RSF 2024 report published in May puts Greece in 88th place out of 180 countries, behind EU partners Hungary and Poland.
In February, the European Parliament issued a resolution decrying a hostile media environment in Greece, which the body said poses a “very serious” threat to EU values.
The resolution said journalists in Greece faced physical threats and verbal attacks, including from high-ranking politicians, and abusive lawsuits.
Greece at the time dismissed the resolution as “slander”.
Source: AFP
