Judges' Union Against Deputy Prosecutor Floridis Over Referral of Minister's Son
The Union of Judges and Prosecutors has responded sharply to an article by Vasileios Floridis, deputy prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, who claimed there was an unjustified referral of 11 defendants to trial.
Judges' Union: Judges Who Referred Minister's Son Are 'Soul of the Judicial Body'
An article by Vasileios Floridis, deputy prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, in the newspaper Kathimerini with the title "A Vein of Corruption in Justice" has provoked strong reaction in the judicial community, according to In.gr. In his article, Floridis alleges an unjustified referral to trial of 11 people — including a government minister's son — citing a complete absence of evidence.
The Union of Judges and Prosecutors responded with a statement defending the judges' handling of the matter and rejecting allegations of corruption. It clarifies that it does not have the authority to examine the substance of the criminal case, but nonetheless condemns the fact that a senior prosecutorial official has expressed himself in this manner against colleagues who participated in judicial councils.
The Union places particular emphasis on the fact that Floridis himself had personally handled the case at the cassation stage. His proposal for acquittal of the defendants was rejected unanimously by the Court of Cassation Council.
The statement also recalls an earlier article by the deputy prosecutor in the newspaper To Vima in May 2016, in which he had written that judicial officials with relatives actively involved in politics "should refrain from handling cases involving political figures — the most honourable of all, if they are".
"In a state ruled by law, which requires respect for judicial decisions from every citizen, no judicial or prosecutorial official is entitled to this kind of immunity, however powerful he feels or whatever name he bears," the statement says.
The Union describes the judges who decided on the referral as people of "high scientific level" with "unshakeable judicial integrity". "And if for you, Mr Prosecutor, they are 'the veins of corruption', for us they are the soul of the Judicial Body and our collective pride," it states characteristically.
In the meantime, the Union denounces what it calls "the poison of an 'institutional' authoritarianism": the tendency to attribute the charge of corruption to every differing judicial view. Such public interventions, it points out, whether they come from lawyers or prosecutorial officials, attempt to morally discredit those who express a different opinion.
"In the difficult and dark times overshadowed by fear and submission, strength and uninfluenced integrity appear as bright stars," the statement of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors concludes.
Source: In.gr