Immediate intervention of the National Radio and Television Council on the issue of its rebroadcasting the case of a 12-year-old girl in Kolonos a government spokesman asks. Yannis Oikonomou.

As Mr. Economou emphasizes in his letter to the President of the ESR, lately all citizens have become part of an extremely
situations at the expense of victims, in particular children, by disseminating videos and information of a sexual nature in the media.

There is a question of ethics, as well as a violation of the existing legal framework for the protection of young people based on the Constitution, legislation and the European directive, a government spokesman notes.

Full letter from Yannis to the Economist:

“Dear Mr. President,

Recently, we have all become part of an extreme situation due to the victims, especially children, with the spread of videos and information of a sexual nature from TV and radio stations and websites. The question of ethics arises, as well as violations of the existing legal framework for the protection of young people, as indicated, in particular, in article 15, part 2 of the Constitution, law 2101/1992, which ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 9 of Law 4479/2021, in which included Directive 2010/13 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and Article 10 77/2003 concerning a code of ethics for news and other journalistic and political broadcasts.

After that, we consider that the immediate and priority intervention of your Council is an absolute necessity, based on the powers conferred on you by article 15, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, Law 2863/2000 and other relevant legislation.”

The General Secretary of Social Solidarity also requires the intervention of the ESR.

Previously, ESR’s intervention in the Kolonos case was also requested in a letter by Giorgos Stamatis, Secretary General of the Social Solidarity and Poverty Alleviation Department of the Ministry of Labor.

Mr. Stamatis asked ESR to intervene within its remit to ensure that what is required by law to obtain adequate protection for a 12-year-old victim of sexual abuse and exploitation.

In his letter, he refers to the extent of coverage of this issue and emphasizes that proper measures to protect it from wide coverage of the issue and all minors who are exposed to relevant news, information, updates and analyzes are essentially not taken into account.

Letter:

“Our service, which is responsible for child protection issues on the basis of paragraph No. 134/2017 (A 168), observing to what extent the case of a minor victim of sexual abuse and exploitation received from the media in the current period, in fact, taking into account appropriate measures to protect her from the extensive influence of the subject, but also of all minors who are exposed to relevant news, information, updates and analyses,

pay attention to:

(a). International Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Law 2101/1992, and in particular Article 39 (Article 1): “Contracting States shall take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of any child who has been the victim of any form of neglect, exploitation or cruel treatment, torture or any other form of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or armed conflict. This recovery and reintegration takes place in an environment that promotes the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.”

(b). Law 4479/2021 transposing into national law Directive (EU) 2010/13 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the harmonization of certain laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the provision of audiovisual services to the media, as amended by the Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 and other provisions falling within the competence of the General Secretariat for Communication and Information”, and in particular Article 9 “Protection of minors” (Article 6a of Directive (EU) 2010 /13) and

(With). s.d. 77/2003 “Code of ethics for news and other journalistic and political broadcasts” and in particular Article 10 – Protection of minors,

Calls on the independent body to intervene within its competence to ensure everything provided for in the aforementioned legislative acts, always with a view to protecting minors, victims and non-victims.”