ND deputy wins suit for Flash radio slur
Former New Democracy party spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos yesterday was awarded 176,000 euros (60 million drachmas) in damages after a court found three journalists and the Flash radio station guilty of slandering him in May 2000 by saying he was homosexual. An Athens court found that Themos Anastasiadis, Vangelis Perris and Nikos Kakaounakis had «insulted the honor and reputation» of Spiliotopoulos and had «questioned his social and moral standing.» The court said that the three had not only repeated comments by another journalist and parliament deputy Giorgos Karatzaferis, but had shown that they agreed with him. Their comments had «transcended the bounds of propriety,» and had insulted both Spiliotopoulos and ND leader Costas Karamanlis. Spiliotopoulos, a member of Parliament, had asked for 1 billion drachmas. This, then, is how the news bulletins are filled and the number of expert «journalists» is continually growing. This, then, is how information is in immediate danger of being replaced by speculation.
