It is simple, and democratic but not self-evident in Greece. Prosecutors and Judges are Greek citizens and as the Constitution provides, they have the right to opinion and speech. They can express themselves on social and political reality and justify their opinion, but what is Greece’s Prosecutor of the Supreme Court doing at the Delphi Forum? Theories of neutrality and silence are an easy way to hide corruption behind pretenses. The neutrality of a man/woman of justice is about his work and his function within the institution he/she serves and should not be turned into a political muzzle. Even the opinion that says “I have no political opinion” is a political opinion and one that is convenient for the most conservative options. For a member of justice to be detached from society and its concerns is practically impossible and when expressed in this way as a sentiment, it is deeply conservative.
The Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adilini, has the right to express her opinion (like any prosecutor) in interviews, debates or forums. Apart from the fact that it is a constitutional right, it is infinitely more honest behavior than that of dozens of judicial officials who do not realize that the images of Saints in their offices and the complicity of the Church is an admission of non-neutrality and a violation of the principles of law.
The Prosecutor, Ms Adilini, and the Supreme Court have an obligation to answer questions that arise during the public scrutiny process. Greece has been repeatedly called upon by the European Union to comply with the provisions on informing society through journalists. Although the Supreme Court is one of the few judicial bodies that has designated a press office, its function is not related to informing journalists, but to issuing political announcements. A typical example is the statement directed against the European Public Prosecutor Laura Covesi.
Since Mrs Adilini took office, there have been many issues concerning justice and herself as Chief Public Prosecutor on which she should have given answers. What about the wiretapping case? Why in the Tempi crime does Justice seem to be at the trailing edge of revelations and why has it not done as much as it should? With respect to Tempi case, the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court met with relatives of the victims who asked for acceleration and justice and (according to what they said in public) Mrs Adilini offered them restraint and recourse to God.
Mrs Adilini had to respond to all this with a double responsibility: the title she holds and the respect she must show to public opinion, which is informed by journalists. She did not do so, but instead took to great pains to go all the way to the Delphi Economic Forum, where she expressed her views in a secure environment. She had every right to do so, apart from the assessment one can make of this Forum, which is something like a kind of political Balkan Eurovision and a mock-up of the Davos Forum. Mrs. Adilini may feel that she only has an obligation to explain herself to a gathering organised by businessmen and ‘agents’ who, under the guise of a non-profit company, are recycling theories and awarding ‘bipartisan’ credit, but explanations are first and foremost given to journalists. She has an obligation to inform them by possibly answering questions she doesn’t like.
The Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, followed the tactics of her predecessor, Isidoros Dogiakos ( Isidoros Dogiakos had been accused of acting as an “arm of the government” after he said that the country’s telecom watchdog, the Independent Authority for Communication Security and Privacy, cannot probe wiretaps), who chose a year ago to also take a place at the forum and in a friendly environment, for what he was accused of, which of course remained essentially unanswered. If Mrs Adilini was jealous of Doyakos’ glory, then she should probably be prepared to have the not at all honourable outcome of being the only Supreme Court Prosecutor who was publicly compared to Konstantinos Kolias of the Junta.
Wishful thinking.
“There were witnesses…”
In total readiness, Maria Kaarustianou responded to Georgia Adilini, via Lifo “I think that after all that has happened in this tragic crime of Tempe, everything that was said today by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court is obviously unworthy of discussion.
What I would like to stress, however, is that it would be better if the “Head of Justice” were to stop commenting on what was said in her office and tell us why, after so many months, we are still obliged to search for the remains of our dead children or explosives in adjacent fields.
I would also like to say to Mrs. Adilini that not everything we have stated is a figment of our imagination, and this is borne out by the very simple fact that there were witnesses.
I have never in my life had any problems with my perception.
So what the authorities of justice have to do is to punish those responsible.
And I state this clearly: No one will be immune, no one will go unpunished.”
