A distressing incident unfolded on Friday, 25 August, 2023, involving Kostas Vaxevanis (Κώστας Βαξεβάνης), one of the leading investigative journalists in Greece and publisher of Documento (https://www.documentonews.gr/).
Kostas and his family were attacked by a family member of a businessman while sitting at a restaurant during a family vacation in Amarynthos (Αμάρυνθος) on the Greek island of Evia / Euboea (Εύβοια). Vaxevanis was verbally attacked, and a family member, his mother-in-law, was physically assaulted. All happened in front of his eight-year-old daughter. The attacker used aggressive swearing and derogatory language.
The attack is believed to be connected to a report published by Documento.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) reacted in the past years several times connected to attacks and threats against Kostas Vaxevanis. SEEMO expresses its solidarity with Kostas Vaxevanis and his family. Such violent acts not only endanger the lives of journalists and their loved ones but also undermine the vital role of the media in ensuring transparency and accountability in society. SEEMO stands with Kostas Vaxevanis and his family, and calls the authorities in Athens to protect Vaxevanis and other journalists in Greece.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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