Tragic, as well as politically, institutionally and morally unimaginable, he characterized the case Kylie Evangelos Venizelos. “I deeply regret this development. We are waiting for Belgian justice, although the consequences are already overwhelming,” said Mr. Venizelos in an interview with the newspaper Eleftheria of Kalamata ahead of tomorrow’s presentation of his book “Versions of War” in the city of Messina.

In connection with the actions of the Belgian judiciary, Evangelos Venizelos pointed out that in Greek law the guarantees of parliamentary immunity do not apply to obvious criminal offenses. “Some deliberately confuse the declassification of communications by a member of parliament or a serving minister such as Kostis Hatzidakis, ostensibly for reasons of national security, without investigating a crime, simply for arbitrary but lawful information gathering, with signs or hints of particularly serious crimes and much more with committing an automatic felony,” Mr. Venizelos added, emphasizing that “just as Ms. Kylie was temporarily detained in Belgium, so were the Golden Dawn deputies temporarily detained in Greece.”

He also noted that the nature of the crimes is different, but these are spontaneous crimes. “Therefore, those who believe that the criminal case of Kylie, brought by the Belgian authorities, justifies the surveillance of the party leader and acting minister by the EPM of Greece for unspecified reasons of national security without any criminal dimension, do not realize that, without respect, the Constitution and the European human rights conventions do not protect liberal democracy,” Evangelos Venizelos stressed.

He further explained that the issues of democracy and the rule of law are not degraded, forgotten or hidden. He also argued that the new law contains positive features, such as a more thorough definition of national security issues and special guarantees for politicians, even if not provided for in the constitution. “Therefore, the two main positions that I initially supported were largely adopted by the government. But this is not enough,” he said.

According to Evangelos Venizelos, after the publication of the monitoring data of Minister K. Hatsidakis, the government, through its representative, admits that the EMP acted “out of context”. “What does it mean; That he acted outside the law? Or outside the prime minister’s political directives, but still “legally,” that is, at the behest of the competent prosecutor’s office? The constitution, however, instructs the judiciary, not the prime minister, to make the final decision. Does the government mean that the EMP erroneously, i.e. illegally, requested a prosecutor’s warrant? If so, who is responsible for the lack of oversight by the EPA? Obviously, the overseeing minister, who is himself a prime minister, who should now demand from the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court and the Anti-Corruption Commission of an immediate and deep investigation, at least surveillance of his ministers and other officials, ”he said.

Finally, Mr. Venizelos expressed concern about the widespread populism, the evasion of the truth in public speaking, the narrow-mindedness with which all major issues are dealt with, from fiscal to foreign policy, the ease with which tensions are escalated, absolute indifference. to consensus or even agreement on major issues.

^{Source: RES-IPE}