Giorgos Autias / Eulogy from ESR – Exonerates him and deifies him

The ESR sings praises for the journalism of Giorgos Autias, exonerating the journalist, now a member of the European Parliament with the New Democracy, as well as SKAI from complaints for a series of violations of the law related to inaccurate information.

The independent Authority does not limit itself to findings regarding any deviations in the show of G. Avtias that aired on 8/2/2020 on the topic of assault battalions against immigrants in Moria, Lesvos, but proceeds with judgments on whether his show was good and whether he himself is a good journalist and concludes, unanimously, that he is an… amazing journalist: “The journalistic direction of the show by the journalist Giorgos Autias was impeccable, objective and cool, as, respecting the current legislation and codes of ethics, he made sure to covered all sides of the discussion topic with courtesy and discretion, he clearly stood against self-judgment and made serious efforts to maintain order, calm and decorum in his broadcast” officially stated in the decision of the ESR. But this is what you get when you let lawyers write unchecked…

In other parts of the same decision, the ESR speaks in the best words about G. Avtias:

* “The presenter-journalist Giorgos Autias himself, when required, reacted immediately, characteristically saying: “By God, no self-righteousness”.

* “The presenter Giorgos Autias believes that calm is the most important thing”.

* “The presenter-journalist Giorgos Autias points out that they need absolute calm and measures from the state”.

* “The presenter makes a proposal to gather three MPs from each party and solve the issue”.

Oil the assault battalions

The ESR even unanimously released SKAI for the broadcast of G. Avtias on 8/2/2020, which was checked following a citizen’s complaint, if it complies with the provisions regarding: a) accurate and truthful transmission of events (with care and feeling liability), b) control of transmitted information and c) obligation to correct inaccuracies. The show was made on the occasion of episodes created after a protest march of immigrants who tried to enter the city of Mytilini protesting the delay in asylum applications. He even appeared as a person who conveyed “the opinion of the residents”, but, as stated in the decision of 29/4/2024 of the ESR, “the presenter of the show Giorgos Autias did not introduce the local journalist Yiannis Synanis as a correspondent or emissary of the abandoned television station , but simply connected with him with the phrase: “Come, John, good morning”!

In fact the show was trying to “oil” raiding parties that had been formed in Moria, Lesbos, which were organized with anti-immigrant batons. He gave the floor to a local journalist, who, as accepted by the ESR, had the purpose “to submit the opinion of the local community of Moria to the discussion in order to achieve the necessary completeness, plurality and objectivity on the subject”. The fact that the suffering of the refugees due to the delay in the asylum procedures or the possible opposing views of other residents of the island is not mentioned anywhere did not trouble the members of the ESR, who, by the way, in the vast majority of them are journalists.

As was not even the announcement of the police, which proceeded to arrest seven people in Moria, five citizens and two foreigners, aged between 17 and 24. According to the police press release (7/2/2020), they are charged with “participation in a criminal group and violation of the arms legislation” because, as stated, they “united for the purpose of jointly committing unlawful acts, mainly against foreigners immigrants”.

It didn’t ring any bells for the descriptions of the correspondent from Lesbos even when he said that those arrested by the police “had four wooden boxes” and that they “sat here to prevent the immigrants from entering and burning their village”. Not even when he said “come here and see what’s going on.” The inhabitants do not sleep, they do not want to go out because they are afraid of arrests… Instead of protecting the world of Moria here… They burn them, steal their lives, they have destroyed everything… Instead of protecting them, they arrest them, assault battalions…” he says .

Independent Authority… appointed

On the contrary, as the ESR found, the purpose of the local journalist’s participation “in the live news broadcast presented by the journalist Giorgos Auttias was to submit the opinion of the local community of Moria to the debate in order to achieve the necessary completeness, plurality and objectivity on the subject ». ESR judges the objectivity well… And the polyphony and completeness of the report. Well done for them!

Faced with this operation of manipulation to wash away the assault battalions of the residents of Lesvos, the SYRIZA MP-P.S. Christos Giannoulis, a journalist himself, tried many times to demonstrate that the description of the events from the island is neither accurate nor complete. But how can he deal with journalists of the caliber of Giorgos Autias and Lina Kleitos, who was also a guest on the show and accused him of “alleged humanitarianism” and of covering for the “anarcho brats”? In a show that legitimizes assault battalions in Moria when some other assault battalions, those of the Golden Dawn, were on trial at the Athens Court of Appeal.

These are the results and the decisions when the independent Authorities are appointed by the majority in the meeting of the Speakers of the Parliament that the ND deputies form. and those of Kyriakos Velopoulos’ Greek Solution.