“You didn't just cancel the awards. In my opinion, you canceled the “human dignity”, said MP Dimitris Dimitriou
Intervention in freedom of the press in relation to the non-awarding of two EAK awards following external interventions was discussed today in the Institutions Committee by MPs and guests.
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Serious issues are raised by “the cancellation of two awards by the Cyprus Sports Writers' Association”, said in his initial statement, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions, Values and Commissioner for Administration, Dimitris Dimitriou, before the Committee which discussed the issue in its long session today.
The president of the EAK, Herodotos Miltiadous, clarified in his intervention that the awarding of the two topics was not canceled, but the opinion of their legal advisor was adopted, who considered that the topics had a legal nature and for the well-intentioned interest of the EAK they suggested the suspension and the awarding at a later stage. “The decision of the jury was not canceled, which is why the first prize was not given to the topics that followed in the ranking. The EAK did not cancel anything,” he added.The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions in his introductory statement, before giving the floor to the guests of the Committee and the two affected colleagues to present their views on the matter, said that in his own perception as he formulated it from the very beginning, serious issues are raised.
Issues, as he said, of lack of freedom of the press, lack of freedom of speech, interventions by sports factors towards the EAK and he raised the question of whether sports writers are put at risk or threatened professionally in this case.
Journalist Fanis Makridis, whose award for research did not take place, submitted a relevant memorandum to the Committee, in which he also presents his written positions on the matter, clarifying that he has the corresponding documents for what he records.
After referring to the history of revelations about the possible incompatibility of the CPC official, he noted that the reason for the investigation was a reference to a report by the Auditor General, in June 2014, about a CPC agent who was doing business with CYTA through four companies in the Seychelles and Virgin Islands, without naming the specific person.
As he said, in this report, CYTA was called upon to review the amounts it spends on television product and since then it began investigating the issue and four years later it was possible to secure four voluminous files on these companies.
Fanis Makridis clarified that they never adopted anything against Mr. Koumas.
“We had no narrative. We were, after all, revealing documents. Undisputed facts that we never interpreted and were even confirmed. At the same time, we treated him with absolute respect. And not only that. We diligently took care to publish his positions. In the first publication in 2018 when we revealed the contracts with documents, we hosted his positions. He confirmed our findings, but said that the issues raised were examined by competent bodies without anything coming to light. You will see that all our publications include positions either of Mr. Koumas, either his lawyer or our attempts to obtain statements from his side are still recorded, without a corresponding response”, he added.
Fanis Makridis then referred to the history of his candidacy for the investigation, the intervention of a KOP employee and the opinion of the Legal Advisor of its EAK, and pointed out that from relevant documents that he had obtained, he found that “the KOP, in its letter dated 22/10/2024, intervenes in the EAK”, while he raised questions about the legal opinion requested by the EAK.
“Unfortunately, the EAK did not give any explanation for its actions, while it took various actions that I do not wish to explain, but that cause a painful impression and harm the credibility of the journalistic profession,” he said.
“We regret the level of journalistic education that is being demonstrated. The work of a journalist has absolutely nothing to do with the criminal investigation that is being conducted. Because with this logic, freedom of the press is being destroyed,” he added.
It is clear, he noted, “that a journalist does one job and a criminal investigator, the Attorney General and the judge do another. In fact, a journalist has no connection with law enforcement authorities. We are not investigators, prosecutors, judges.” Fanis Makridis also wondered what relationship journalistic investigation might have with whether a criminal investigation will end up anywhere?Journalist Michalis Papageorgiou, who was to be awarded in the Article Writing category, after referring to the history of the events, then said that it was an insult to him personally, in the sense that without seeking the award, they announce that they will award you and then tell you that they are canceling you and you wonder why, you wonder what happened.
“I did not understand why the Legal Advisor gave such an opinion on my article and the second thing was the sequence of events,” he noted.
The chairwoman of the Committee on Journalistic Ethics, Elli Kotziamani, for her part, said, among other things, that for the Committee, which discussed the issue extensively and in its meeting, the whole issue constitutes a clear violation of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right of journalists to exercise their profession. She noted that a series of issues arise, which should concern not only the Parliamentary Institutions Committee, but also the entire society and the state.”The entire development of the issue affects two journalists for their research and for their opinion piece,” he added.
Four members of the EAK awards jury were also present at the discussion. Former EAK board member, current CNA Director, Dinos Foinikaridis, after referring to the information they had on the issue from EAK, said, among other things, that if there was a legal basis for some of the issues, the EAK board itself should have done the appropriate research in advance and not put these nominations before the members of the jury. He added that if this issue had arisen after the announcement of the winners, the members of the jury should have been fully informed about what exactly had happened. He noted that they had not been informed about the letter from the CPC and the opinion of the Legal Advisors. “On the substance, it seems that there was a serious intervention. “So, it does not allow me to be a member of the jury and that is why I submitted my resignation,” said Mr. Foinikaridis.
Journalist Petros Hadjichristodoulou said that he believed that the EAK Board of Directors “would find the strength to resist not the interventions but the blackmail, because it was not a warning, it was pure blackmail, and the blackmail had to do with the fact that some powerful factors who are related to television platforms want to control which sportswriters will participate in them.” He noted that the fear felt by the EAK administration is that it believes that if it goes “against” sportswriters will be expelled from the platforms and they will lose their jobs.
The former Secretary General of the EAK, Michael Papadakis, said that “unfortunately, I believe that the prestige of the jury and the institution itself has been damaged, possibly irreparably.” He also raised the question of why these interventions were successful. “I think they were successful because today the cooperation or, in a way, the dependence of both the EAK itself as an organization and a large portion of sports editors on sports authorities is greater than in the past,” he added.
Invited by the chairman of the Institutions Committee to state why this dependence has increased, Mr. Papadakis said that the profession of sports editor is an underpaid profession with poor working conditions, and there is a fertile ground for institutions to directly employ sports editors on a part-time basis.
In his intervention, the chairman of the Institutions Committee said that he believes that this is the essence of today's discussion, adding that they did not come to judge the President of the EAK and the Council, it has never been a court, but they came to see the real problem and see how they can contribute to its solution.
The swimming champion, Stavros Michaelides, said that he was puzzled by this specific action, he expressed some questions to the EAK and the answer was that there was a legal opinion and that he considered that there was a reason for this opinion.
The president of the Greek Journalists' Union, George Frangos, said that what they are discussing is a result of the difficult picture presented by labor relations in the journalistic sector, which makes all colleagues particularly vulnerable and cautious.
The incident, he noted, with the intervention, the unthinkable, the condemnable, is simply the tip of the iceberg, but at the same time it is a bombshell to the foundations of investigative journalism.
EAK rejects the silence
The president of the Greek Journalism Association, Herodotus Miltiadous, in his own statement pointed out that the Greek Journalism Association's Board of Directors rejects talk of silencing, a blow to free press, etc.
“The Greek Journalism Association has not silenced anyone and is not even in a position to silence anyone. The fact that the Greek Journalism Association is not silencing anyone is also evident from the very existence of the journalism awards since 2020, which aim to encourage the writing of issues,” he said.
And it is, he added, “very important to emphasize is the process of the specific awards and the fact that the Board of Directors of EAK does not interfere at any stage in the work of highlighting these issues, since this is also very important to emphasize the issues proposed for awards , are submitted directly to the jury, by the journalists themselves or by third parties, and the jury has the inalienable right to freely and autonomously choose the prize-winning subjects”.
If there was, continued Mr. Miltiados, any intention of silencing, then the above procedure would not have followed and the EAK would not have announced the issues under discussion as winners either.
The president of the EAK, after referring to the events that led to the suspension of the awards, said that they understand the reactions, but the EAK must always maintain a responsible stance on all issues.
“The Board of Directors studied the facts before it as it does every time and followed the appropriate procedures, always in collaboration with its legal advisors. The Board of Directors of the Public Broadcasting Corporation is composed of journalists and not lawyers, so it is obliged when legal issues are brought to the attention of the Board of Directors, to seek the advice and guidance of experts,” he said.
He assured that “the award of the two issues was not canceled. But the opinion of our legal advisor was adopted, who considered that the issues had a legal nature and for the good of the perceived interests of the Public Broadcasting Corporation, they recommended the suspension and the award at a later stage.”
It did not intervene with the Public Broadcasting Corporation, said the JOE
The Secretary General of the Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC), Giotis Ioannidis, said, among other things, that the COC, which also submitted a relevant memorandum to the Institutions Committee, did not make any intervention towards the EAK. “Of course the article bothered us, it affects us as an Organization, but we did not discuss it in the Executive Council, nor did we make any decision, nor did we proceed with legal action,” he added.
Clarifying in relation to a report on why a sportswriter from the RIK was cut from the mission to the Olympic Games after the Federation's intervention, Mr. Ioannidis said that he had nothing to do with the KOE, explaining that the people who would cover the Olympics from the RIK were exclusively chosen by the RIK. Addressing the KOE, Mr. Dimitriou asked them to send them the reports from the internal audit in relation to a previous session of the Committee on KOE issues.One of the vice-presidents of the KOP, Theodoros Theodoulou, said that the KOP's position on this specific issue is as it was in the letter sent, adding that they do not enter into the process of discussing issues that are under investigation.
In response to a question from the chairman of the Institutions Committee whether they have taken any measures against the journalist, Mr. Theodoulou reiterated that the case (criminal investigation against a senior KOP official) is under investigation and they are not commenting further, adding that they have not taken legal action against the journalist for the article.
Responding to a relevant question, Mr. Theodoulou said that neither the Board of Directors of the KOP nor the President of the KOP was aware of the letter from the KOP to the Board of Directors of the EAK, it was an initiative of the General Director of the KOP, Anthoulis Mylonas, who signs the letter sent by the KOP to the EAK and who was present at today's meeting.
On behalf of the Cyprus Bar Association, its representative spoke about the opinions, saying, among other things, that they are concerned about the situation and what they heard today is unacceptable and ways must be found to address the phenomenon.
AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis said that “I believe that today's debate is a golden opportunity to flip the switch.”
“And what I mean: Either we will be comfortable, as some people are, with journalists and sports writers continuing to report on events, or we will strengthen investigative journalism and opinion articles that will create noise that is what leads somewhere,” he said.
He added that “it is clear that there have been interventions and because I fully understand how difficult a position journalists are in when they have to choose their livelihood and freely express their opinions, the problem is much deeper than we think.”
“This comes in the wake of some allegations that put into perspective that financial interests and their control control those involved in sports and that control of money results in control of opinion, description and what happens on and off the field,” he added.
Independent MP, Alexandra Attalidou, said that Cyprus is slipping in the net of free press and after this case we will go even lower.
She noted that democracies are at risk when the rich and powerful can silence their critics just because they raise their voices on matters of public interest.
The chairman of the Institutions Committee, Dimitris Dimitriou, closing the session said that at least sports journalism is in limbo, adding that when there are financial, livelihood interests towards sports writers, which results in them not being able to function as they would like to function, this at least puts sports journalism in limbo.
Addressing the president of the EAK, Mr. Dimitriou said: “You didn't just cancel the awards. In my opinion, you canceled the dignity of people. You canceled the free speech and free press of the people that the jury chose to honor. You canceled the work that is being done. You have nullified the courage of colleagues to continue writing either their opinion or to do investigative journalism.” He also said that they are here to contribute to the well-being of sports journalism and sports editors. Addressing the General Director of the Greek Football Federation, Mr. Dimitriou said that he did not answer their questions and decided with the Vice President of the Greek Football Federation to invoke the investigation that is being conducted.
