Supreme Court prosecutor refused to go to parliament

Prosecutor Supreme Court of Greece refused to appear before the parliamentary commission on the case wiretaps. Formally – separation of powers. In essence, it’s a convenient screen.

Prosecutor Supreme Court of Greece (Areopagus) Konstantinos Tzavellas refused to appear at Commission on Institutions and Transparency of the Greek Parliamentwhere he was summoned on business wiretaps. Formal explanation – “constitutional order” And “separation of powers”. In practice, this looks simpler: Parliament can ask questions as long as the questions don’t become too awkward.

Name Tzavellas associated with one of the most painful political scandals of recent years. It is with the legal consent of the prosecutor Konstantinos Tzavellas Εθνική Υπηρεσία Πληροφοριών (National Intelligence Service, ΕΥΠ) at one time I monitored the telephone conversations of the current Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hadzidakis. Reasons “national security”through which one of the key politicians of the ruling system was tapped, remained without a clear answer.

Now a prosecutor Areopagus had to give explanations to the parliamentary commission. But he didn’t come. He referred to already established practice: the former prosecutor Supreme Court of Greece (Areopagus) Giorgi Adelini and former deputy prosecutor Achilleas Zisis also refused to appear in parliament on the case wiretapshiding behind the same argument about “separation of powers”.

Convenient practice for awkward questions

Thus, a convenient scheme appeared in Greek political practice: if a representative of the highest judicial levelwhere it smells not just of a scandal, but of a systemic covering of a scandal, one can refer to “separation of powers” and don’t show upOvnya is summoned to parliament on business. Parliament, of course, remains “temple of democracy”just some distinguished guests, Apparently, they go there solely according to their mood.

Tzavellas remains in post until June 30when should I retire? Demands for resignation have been heard before, including from the legal community. However Ένωση Εισαγγελέων Ελλάδος (Union of Greek Prosecutors) then he called such demands almost “institutional deviation”. An interesting logic emerges: demanding responsibility is dangerous for institutions, but not answering to parliament is, apparently, the highest form of legal culture.

They are trying to close the wiretaps again with a procedure

Against this background, the initiative to create an investigative commission in the case should be discussed in parliament wiretaps. According to Greek political sources, the government New Democracy may try to push the decision through a higher voting threshold, citing “national security”.

The pattern is familiar: the topic is too important to talk openly; too sensitive to reveal details; It’s too state-like for people’s representatives to ask unnecessary questions. This is how scandals go into the archives: not because they were investigated, but because they were neatly wrapped in a folder with the inscription “secret”.

The opposition will be indignant. But Megaro Maximapparently, expects that the matter will not go beyond loud statements. And this, unfortunately, is a working calculation: the Greek government has long learned to survive political noise if it does not turn into real pressure.

Floridis, Kovesi and a quick turnaround

A separate story unfolds around the Minister of Justice Georgos Floridis. Government Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced its intention to reduce the time frame for considering cases involving deputies to three months. On paper – speeding up justice. In reality, everything depends on the details, and the details in such cases usually hide the main meaning.

According to the publication, the original version of the amendment actually took away the investigative procedure from Ευρωπαϊκή Εισαγγελία (European Public Prosecution Service) and handed it over to a special appeals investigator. This is important given the recent conflict surrounding Greek prosecutors working with European Public Prosecutor’s Officewhose powers they did not want to renew in their previous form.

After the reaction of the European prosecutor Laura Kovesi the Minister of Justice quickly introduced the so-called “legal and technical improvement”. As a result European prosecutor’s office maintained the investigative procedure. It turned out to be a classic Greek turn: first take a step towards control, then, when Brussels looked too closely, urgently explain that everyone misunderstood everything.

PASOK is trying to expand

While the government is putting out institutional fires, PASOK trying to find his own pace. On Thursday meeting scheduled PASOK Expansion Commissionwhich is headed Kostas Skandalidis. The announcement of approximately twenty new affiliations is expected – from the university environment, local government and the diplomatic corps.

The party is clearly trying to show movement against the background of a possible new project of the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras and expected political announcement Maria Karistianu. The coincidence in dates, of course, can be considered accidental. In Greek politics, in general, almost everything is accidental, especially when it is too well calculated.

The situation is discussed separately Anna Diamantopoulou. After the decision of the congress PASOK exclude government cooperation with New democracy its position, according to the publication, has weakened. At the same time, she herself Diamantopoulou stated that New Democracy is an opponent “before the elections”. The question of what will happen after the elections remains up in the air. It’s very convenient: before the elections there are enemies, after the elections we’ll see based on the results of arithmetic.

Editorial comment

Prosecutor’s refusal Supreme Court of Greece (Areopagus) appearing in parliament is not a defense “separation of powers”but a demonstration of how this division is turned into a screen. To the point wiretaps Parliament is actually being told: you can ask, no one is obliged to answer you.

At Kyryakose Mitsotakis Greek power increasingly resembles a system where Megaro Maxim controls not only the government, but also the political rhythm of justice, intelligence services and parliamentary procedures. Formally, institutions exist. Practically, every time an issue becomes dangerous, a curtain is lowered in front of society with the inscription “national security”.

This is no longer a neat cover. It’s almost open signal: parliament may be indignant, the opposition may shout, citizens may suspect, but the real answers remain where the authorities control them. And if it’s called “constitutional order”then all that remains is to clarify: According to what constitution is parliament turned into an auditorium?

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