Evangelos Marinakis Vindicated in Landmark ECHR Ruling

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday issued a ruling against Greece over statements and actions by top officials of the Tsipras government (2015-2019) against Evangelos Marinakis.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg found against the Greek state (Hellenic Republic) over what it called unlawful statements and practices by the government of then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his ministers Panos Kammenos and Stavros Kontonis. It condemned the reprehensible practice of releasing non-papers through the then prime minister’s office, condemned the grave defamatory accusations made against Marinakis, and found violations of fundamental rule-of-law principles, in particular the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

Politically, the Court indirectly condemned efforts to steer and limit the independence of media owners when their outlets are not controlled by, or do not satisfy, the government.