Governments legislate for the people. What about you Mr Venizelos?

written by K. Vaxevanis posted at www.koutipandoras.gr

Dear Mr. Venizelos  - finance minister of Greece
Some time ago, I publically addressed you a number of questions that give rise to serious issues on the way you lead your political life. These questions are based on  facts and not on any kind of speculation. You never replied to this. I was under the impression that your preoccupation with the issue of saving the country did not allow you to answer. Apparently, this was not true. I recently discovered  that you have sent a letter to the newspaper Eleftherotypia regarding the article that dealt with your dowry though you did not give answers to the questions i posed to you. Most importantly, you sent that letter on one of the most critical days of the debt negotiations. Since you found the time for writing this letter, it seems time was not the reason for not replying to me after all.

Before  presenting the stunning results of this journalistic research, I remind you once again that it is your duty to provide an answer. Ethics and politics! Some months ago, when the vice-president of the government, Mr. Pagkalos spoke the notorious phrase: “We ate it all together” (cc. we all stole/spent the money together) I gave him an answer with a very ruthless article. Mr. Pagkalos answered on the same day with a political article that was published on my site. Around the same time I wrote another ruthless article for Ms. Anna Diamantopoulou commenting on the fact that her child is attending a private school while she is the minister of education. Her practice declares that she does not trust the educational system that she is responsible for. Ms. Diamantopoulou publicly replied to my article while raising an aspect that I had cruelly ignored.:the aspect of the mother. Both your colleagues replied, although they could have chosen otherwise as in their cases my articles were based on opinions and not on documented facts (like in your case). Of course, none of the two chose to “remind” me that I was a journalist of the <<public>> broadcasting corporation. They showed respect both to their position as well as to the role of the journalist.
While you were serving as minister of culture and tourism, you came under the fire of your predecessor and now vice-president of the government Mr. Pagkalos. The issue concerned the purchase of the hotel << Acropol >> by the, now convicted, George Mpatatoudis at the time that you were running the ministry. As a parallel story I should mention that Mr. Mpatatoudis, who escaped to Libya, is currently back to Greece since he managed to get a suspension of his prosecution. However this is another subject on which we shall return to.
Let us return to the facts. You occupied the position of minister of justice in 1996. You were not a “random” politician in this position but a practitioner of the science of Law. As you state in your CV, you managed to graduate from Law school in 4 years (although as you said, you were actively involved in political activities during the difficult years 1974-1978), and complete a PhD in Paris in just two years before climbing the ladder of academia in a way that no else ever managed. What other characterization can one apply to you rather than <<the wonder kid>> of the science of Law.
I therefore set on a quest to identify your legislative ingenuity through your work in the ministry o f Justice. And here is what I found out. In 1996 you established the law nr 2408. With this law you modified certain articles of the penal code. More precisely, you added some words, less than 10 in number, yet quite crucial. You altered article 242 (regarding false certifications) and the article 216 (on forgery of documents). These two felony-graded charges that were penalized by imprisonment of 10+ years were changed to simple offenses if the amount of <<damage>> was less than 25 million drachmas ( around 70.000 euros). These were the very words that you added in the law: << Over 25 million drachmas>> With that kind of money you could buy a house at the time. And you Mr. Venizelos? for what reason did you downgrade forgery and false certification to offenses that would damage the perpetrator  up to the equivalent amount of the price of a house?
You performed this legislative <<adjustment>> overnight and without the formation of a law-constructive committee, not to mention a discussion with the people responsible with the serving of justice. Therefore, you did not reveal which necessity urged you to turn such heavy illegalities from felonies to mere offenses. You were blamed by the legislative societies that you lewd on the laws with purposes that were far from the principle of awarding justice.
I can only imagine that as a minister of justice back then, you were aware of the results of your legislative acts. Four hundred distinguished citizens of Thessaloniki (, mostly big-shot doctors, MPs, generals and children of those that we call <<famous>> ) that were facing related charges were never brought to trial. Their felonies became offenses and they were lapsed. This was the most serious case of forgery in the history of Greece. From 1989 to 1991 children of distinguished citizens of Thessaloniki that were enlisted in universities of foreign countries (Yugoslavia, Romania etc.) were transferred to Greek universities after declaring by fake certifications that they were seriously sick. The noble alevins of Thessaloniki were suddenly presented as patients of cancer, leukemia and other serious diseases as their con-doctors certified. When the case was brought to light some academic colleagues of yours tried to cover it up by denying the release of the transfer acts.
A team of honest prosecutors was then forced to investigate the university and confiscate the files. Two investigators were researching the case for 2 years before issuing a legal file, whose volume was larger than that of a room. Prosecutions were issued against 400 individuals. Most of them would end up in jail since most of the accusations were accompanied by hard evidence. And then you (Mr. Venizelos) legislated the change of the penal code on the specific articles that were coincidentally relevant to their charges. The felonies were changed to offenses and were subsequently lapsed. The files were officially closed and dozens of distinguished outlaws, free at last, continued to get their photos in magazines while showcasing their legality and concern on their city and at the same time influencing the political status quo by their powers. Several students that got transferred on fake certifications were off the hook and are nowadays amidst their academic career.
Yet another change of an article of the penal code is included in your reforms. That of article 113. By this article: In the case that an MP was prosecuted for a criminal activity and if his legal immunity was not removed, the time of elapsing of the accusation was to be stopped and the individual was to be prosecuted, when his status as an MP would seize. This article protected both MP’s and civilians. You changed this article and you banned the stopping of accusation elapsing. Consequently, if an MP commits a criminal activity and his immunity is not raised, the procedure for elapsing the crime is in effect. Therefore when he seizes to be an MP it is possible that he faces no actual crime.
These are your legislative actions. In a ministry where – as one would suppose and due to your field of studies- the legal society would be praising the great reforms of Venizelos. Yet the legal society is talking about <<malpractices>> on the laws. I am confident that you know of the stories on how the hell is paved with good intentions. You are the only one who truly recognizes your own intentions. I do not attach any intention to your actions. I am confronting you with questions once again. And I am waiting for answers, that as you may well know it is your duty to provide. If not then let this be one of your intentions…

PS. To anyone that might be interested. After 25 years of journalism I have the possibility to get to know when my name is becoming <<popular>> in certain state services. Don’t waste your energy. There are no skeletons in my closet, just clothes and files. Of which I always keep a copy.

Posted in http://www.koutipandoras.gr/?p=10863

Translated by Aristeidis Katsiorchis.