Press freedom organisations support Reporters United and EfSyn
The undersigned press freedom groups condemn the ongoing, abusive legal action by Grigoris Dimitriadis against the journalists who exposed Greece’s Predator spyware scandal. Greek institutions must enact strong legal protections for journalists against the growing trend of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, aimed at silencing critical reporting.
Investigative journalists from Reporters United, newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton (EfSyn), and their colleagues – including Nikolas Leontopoulos, Thodoris Chondrogiannos, and Christoforos Kasdaglis, as well as freelance journalist Thanasis Koukakis – find themselves entrenched in an unacceptable legal harassment saga. Repeated Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) have been filed against them by Grigoris Dimitriadis, nephew of the Greek Prime Minister and former Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Following the journalists’ landmark reporting on the “PredatorGate” spyware scandal, Dimitriadis initially filed a defamation lawsuit in 2022. In January 2024, we united in support of the reporters to denounce the legal action as a retaliatory attempt to suppress media coverage on matters of undeniable public interest. Recently, an Athens court dismissed the case, recognizing the value and veracity of the reporting. Now, with a second lawsuit totaling €3.3 million filed on 24 November 2023, Dimitriadis is again aiming to pressure these reporters into silence.
Our organizations assessed the claims and branded them as SLAPPs, due to Dimitriadis’ apparent aim to intimidate journalists reporting on matters which ultimately led to his resignation, instead of seeking legal redress in good faith. This conclusion was supported by the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE), and by the revelations which followed, further validating the reporting.
The second SLAPP case arose after a report published in early November 2023 as part of the Predator Files investigation, implicated Dimitriadis’s phone in sending spyware-linked messages to multiple individuals, including prominent Greek public figures. The report sheds light on potential illegal surveillance practices linked to Greek intelligence. Reporters United and EfSyn, who made the revelations, should be recognized for their public watchdog role, not financially and psychologically exhausted by legal actions.
We call on the Greek courts to dismiss these lawsuits in acknowledgment of their chilling impact on press freedom. As European States prepare to implement the EU anti-SLAPP Directive, we call upon Greek authorities to swiftly transpose the Directive as well as follow the Council of Europe Recommendation on countering the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, thereby taking decisive action in defense of press freedom by prioritizing journalist protection. We reiterate our commitment to supporting investigative journalists and standing against SLAPPs in Greece and beyond.
This statement was coordinated by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries and Ukraine.
