VIENNA, 8 April 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the recent libel conviction and sentence imposed on journalist Kostas Vaxevanis for stories written about banking practices in Greece. “This ruling has a chilling effect on media freedom because it restricts reporting on matters of public interest,” Mijatović said. “Once again, this proves the need to decriminalize defamation to ease the pressure on investigative journalism.” Vaxevanis was convicted of libelling financier Andreas Vgenopoulos and was given a jail sentence of 26 months, suspended for three years. Mijatović said the reporter’s story originated from official …read more
Source: OSCE
