Ten months after the police launched an investigation into the disappearance of schoolboy Alex Meshivili in Veria, northern Greece, the inquiry remains in the dark.

The failure by authorities to come up with any findings is a disgrace for the state. An 11-year-old resident of this country simply went missing one afternoon and the police have failed to come up with any decent explanation for what happened that day.

This is not just about bringing the culprits to justice – if, indeed, there are culprits. It’s about reinforcing the public’s feeling of safety.

No parent can feel safe when the country’s police force is not in a position to explain how a boy who went out to play basketball disappeared.

The Alex case soon gained excessive publicity in the media – not without the consent of police officials. Media overexposure seems to have undermined investigations. A human drama was transformed into an endless series that fed the greedy commercial channels.

Throwing light onto the Alex case does not just concern the boy’s family. It concerns everyone. At stake is the very existence of Greece’s rule of law.