Thread by @G_Katsambekis

Greek PM #Mitsotakis violated again (!) the #COVID19 rules. He visited Ikaria island, where he participated at a big gathering at the house of a local MP with 30 other people, breaking the rules against household mixing, social distancing & mask-wearing. thenationalherald.com/greece_politic…

The incident is truly shocking & was reported on the very same day that the #Mitsotakis government put around half of Greece under tighter lockdown measures, with curfews starting as early as 18:00.

The government's tight control over public & private #media resulted in the effective 'burying' of the story. This would have made headlines in most European countries. This is indicative of the worrying decline of public scrutiny & contestation in the country under this govt.

Story now in @guardian. Much needed scrutiny that most Greek private media & public broadcaster no longer provide. A correction: the 9-person limit on home gatherings that @HelenaSmithGDN mentions was only for Christmas. The violation was even more severe. theguardian.com/world/2021/feb…

Update 1: as it can be seen from the screenshots, the article I initially posted has now worryingly been taken down by the National Herald, despite the fact that the story has been confirmed & covered by major international media, like @guardian & @POLITICOEurope.

Update 2: could the censoring of the story in the National Herald have to do with the fact that the newspaper is owned & run by the family of Antonis Diamataris, a former minister of the #Mitsotakis government who had to resign after false claims in his CV were revealed?

Update 3: things seem to get even worse. After Public Broadcaster showed images from PM's gathering at Ikaria, which broke #COVID19 rules, an announcement appeared in the production room, warning producers to bury the story; according to @ChristosXanthak.

https://twitter.com/ChristosXanthak/status/1358782108244803586

Translating the first half of the above for those not speaking Greek: "SOS - SOS / To colleagues producers / We do not display [the] photograph nor the video [of] K. Mitsotakis from the veranda of Stefanadi's house (feast), Ikaria."

The second half of the above note is about burying another story (!) that is causing negative publicity for the Greek government. This level of interference and collusion in the country's Public Broadcaster, if not refuted, is extremely worrying.