Foreign Ministry slams FT article on legal case concerning minister
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The ministry of foreign affairs blasted on Wednesday an article published in the Financial Times that concerned a legal case won by Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias against a magazine, stating it "propagates unprecedented lies aimed at discrediting the Greek government".
In its point-by-point answer, the ministry says the story fails to corroborate the claims it makes and that the paper lied about not receiving a comment on the story. It also says the article's author ignores the judicial rulings that vindicated Kotzias in the case against the Athens Review of Books (ARB) because "they are not to her liking".
The full statement follows below:
"An unsubstantiated article in today's Financial Times, signed by the journalist Mrs Kerin Hope, propagates unprecedented lies aimed at discrediting the Greek government.
Among the other lies stated in the article:
A. While failing to provide any corroboration of the claims it makes, the article presents a false story aimed at defaming the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kotzias.
B. The newspaper lies in saying that it received no comment on the article that was to be published. The truth is that on 30 July, following pertinent correspondence, Ms. Hope received a relevant letter from Mr. Kotzias' attorney, Ioannis Matzouranis. The false statement that Mr Kotzias 'declined to comment' breaks every rule of journalistic ethics.
C. Reference is made to the independence of the judiciary and the alleged risk posed by the government to that independence, while the author of the article - obviously serving other expediencies and selfish interests - adopts all of the 'arguments' of the government's opponents as self-evident, despite their having been struck down by courts of all levels. She flouts the rulings of the Greek judiciary because they are not to her liking, and she directs political labels and falsehoods at Nikos Kotzias, adopting extreme-right phraseology.
The ministry also published the letter send by Kotzias' lawyer Ioannis Mantzouranis to the FT when asked to comment on the story.
Among other points, Mantzouranis says he has three court rulings condemning ARB for slander, noting that to end the litigation, Kotzias said that "a simple public apology by the persons convicted would suffice".
"Mr and Mrs Vassilakis categorically rejected any suggestion of a simple apology, while at the same time they are demanding, through many news articles, that the court rulings be disregarded," Manztouranis says.
