Journalists cleared of charges filed by Kasidiaris
Investigative journalist Dimitris Psarras and his editor at Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper, Nikolas Voulelis, were on Tuesday cleared of charges of slander and obtaining personal data without consent.
The charges had been brought by far-right Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris following the publication in December 2013 of a video where the deputy is shown supervising the abuse of an unidentified detainee by police officers. Kasidiaris, who is currently in jail pending trial for involvement in a criminal gang, had claimed that those filmed had been acting out a 1980s movie.
Judges said the defendants had engaged in strong criticism of a public figure and their actions were within the limits of free expression. The prosecutor had asked the court to convict the defendants.
Constitutional lawyer Nikos Alivizatos and Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis, a professor of constitutional law, spoke in defense of Psarras, who has written extensively on Golden Dawn, and Voulelis.
