In his post, Tsipras referred to the sentences imposed on the four defendants, speaking of ‘126 years and 8 months for each one’, while noting that ‘two escaped punishment because they were absent from the indictment’.

In the same post, Tsipras directly referred to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Dimitriadis, describing them as ‘the instigator and the principal perpetrator’, and claiming that he was ‘the one who thought up and the one who organised the rape of the Rule of Law in our country’.

Tsipras concluded that, ‘after today’s developments, it will be difficult for those truly responsible to avoid being held accountable’, adding that this accountability would be ‘both to the people and to the judiciary’.

Responding to Dimitriadis’s out-of-court notice, Tsipras described him as ‘the prime minister’s nephew’, saying he was attempting ‘to blackmail me with lawsuits and lawsuits, as he has done with a number of journalists’, in order to keep quiet about what he called a ‘double crime against democracy’: ‘the illegal wiretapping organised in Maximou by Mr Mitsotakis and himself, as well as their cover-up’, which, he said, ‘stumbled today in the decision of the single-member criminal court’.

Tsipras said he would not back down, stressing that ‘it is not a personal matter, it concerns democracy itself’.

In full, Tsipras’s statement reads:

‘I was informed a while ago that the prime minister’s nephew sent me a subpoena for my statements regarding the court’s decision on wiretapping.

‘Essentially, he is attempting to blackmail me with lawsuits and lawsuits, as he has done with a number of journalists, in order to keep silent about the double crime against democracy:

‘The illegal wiretapping organised in the PM’s office by Mr Mitsotakis and himself, as well as their cover-up, which however stumbled today in the decision of the single-member criminal court.

‘So I inform both the sender of the bailiff’s letter and his uncle that my address and details are known to them.

‘I’m expecting their lawsuits and charges starting tomorrow.

‘But I will never remain silent.

‘Because it’s not a personal matter, it concerns democracy itself.

‘Besides, the regime of fear, silence and manipulation of justice that they have attempted to impose on the country is no longer unshakable.

‘And fear, it is now evident, is changing sides.’

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