Full text of the statement

“For a year now, Nikos Romanos has remained in pretrial detention with the only ‘evidence’ being his fingerprint, found on a plastic bag of a kind that changes hands every day, in an apartment destroyed by an explosion. Recently, his pretrial detention was extended for another six months, despite the prosecutor’s recommendation that Romanos return home until the trial is held.

“Nikos Romanos is not a random person. On 6 December 2008, at the age of fifteen, he saw his friend Alexandros Grigoropoulos murdered in cold blood before his eyes by special guard E. Korkoneas. The Greek state has not stopped taking revenge on him since then. It brutally tortured him during his arrest for robbery in 2013, denied him student leave during his detention, and is now punishing him with a scandalous pre-emptive sentence, without evidence.

“As journalists, whose first duty is to monitor power and arbitrariness, we express our very strong concern about the prolonged, unreasonable and revanchist detention of Nikos Romanos.

“We declare that the stance of the Greek judiciary in cases such as Tempi, Pylos, the murders of Roma by police officers who were released, and the unjustified detention of innocent people, limits our trust in its similar decisions, and for this reason we call on society to be vigilant.

“At the same time, we are concerned by the very limited publicity this case has received from most media outlets, and we ask every colleague to take a position on this issue.

“As media workers and journalists, we condemn the revanchist practice against Nikos Romanos and demand that he be given the right to live freely.”

The collection of signatures continues here.

______________________________________________

Are you seeking news from Greece presented from a progressive, non-mainstream perspective? Subscribe monthly or annually to support TPP International in delivering independent reporting in English. Don’t let Greek progressive voices fade.

Make sure to reference “TPP International” and your order number as the reason for payment.