Boletim informativo da Grécia #15 - 15.06.2013

Preparado pela equipe #rbnews, traduzido por @KHatzinikolaou

As notícias da #rbnews desta semana

• Em uma surpreendente decisão, o governo grego decidiu fechar a rede pública de rádio e TV ERT, na terça-feira passada. Os trabalhadores imediatamente ocuparam a sede da rede, que continua até hoje. Enquanto isso, o apoio e a solidariedade de cidadãos gregos e das associações de jornalistas e meios de comunicação no exterior aumenta.
• O julgamento de Kostas Vaxevanis no caso da lista Lagarde foi adiado para outubro.
• A maioria dos postos de trabalho que serão criados pela companhia Ouro Grego em Skuriés serão subsidiados pelo Estado
• O objetor de consciência Nikos Karanikas foi preso novamente.

Informativo semanal desde Grecia #38 - 29 Junio 2013

Radiobubble Informativo Semanal 29 Junio 2013 by Mpatman on Mixcloud

En las noticias de #rbnews international de esta semana:

• Tras la ampliación de su detención de 30 meses sin juicio con seis meses adicionales el anarquista Kostas Sakkás está en el vigésimo quinto día de huelga de hambre exigiendo su liberación.
• Permanece fuera de las frecuencias públicas la señal de la ERT una semana después de la decisión del Consejo de Estado que ordenó su inmediata reapertura.
• 12.500 empleos de funcionarios públicos deben suspenderse hasta el 8 de julio, de acuerdo con las decisiones de la Troika y del gobierno griego.
• Se multiplican los despidos y los cierres de grandes empresas, aumenta el desempleo y se violan los derechos laborales en Grecia.
• La líder del Partido Verde de Canadá fue testigo de los métodos seguidos por Eldorado Gold en Skuriés de Calcídica

#rbnews weekly bulletin 22-28 June 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews international show 29 June 2013: Culture in the time of the crisis, part 4 - The ERT musical ensembles

This week on #rbnews international, we continued our series about culture in the time of the crisis with a show dedicated to the musical ensembles of Greece's public broadcaster ERT. The government's  sudden decision to shut down ERT on 11 June 2013 caused a public outcry in Greece and internationally. Much attention has however been focusing on issues pertaining to freedom of the press, and little to ERT's contribution to Greek cultural life at large. The ERT musical ensembles include a symphony orchestra, a contemporary music orchestra and a chorus, and are widely considered to be among the best in the country. A petition to save these musical ensembles can be found on Avaaz.

The show is based on interviews with conductor Michalis Economou (Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Athens Municipality Orchestra, guest conductor at the ERT symphony orchestra), contrabassist Theo Lazarou (ERT symphony orchestra) and tenor Loukas Panourgias (ERT chorus).

The pieces of music included in this podcast (Elgar's Nimrod, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Verdi's Dies Irae, and the overture of Mozart's Magic Flute) were performed during the solidarity concert organized at ERT on 14 June 2013, with participation from all the major orchestras of the greater Athens area. You can watch a partial video of this concert here.

And of course, you can listen to the podcast, as usual, after the jump.

Bulletin d'informations du 29 Juin 2013 en Grèce #38

                                 Bulletin FR 20130629 by Irategreek on Mixcloud (Télécharger)

A la une de #rbnews international cette semaine:

• L'anarchiste Kostas Sakkas en est à son 25ème jour de grève de la faim, demandant d'être libéré, après que sa détention "provisoire" de 30 mois a été prolongée d'encore 6 mois sans procès. 
• ERT demeure exclue des ondes une semaine après la décision du Conseil d'Etat qui ordonnait la reprise immédiate de la diffusion audiovisuelle.
• 12 500 fonctionnaires devront être mis en disponibilité jusqu'au 8 juillet, selon les décisions de la troika et du gouvernement grec.
• Les licenciements et les fermetures de grandes entreprises se multiplient, pendant que le chômage demeure en hausse constante et que le droit du travail est constamment violé.
• La dirigeante du Parti vert canadien a été le témoin des méthodes d'Eldorado Gold à Skouries en Chalcidique. 

Kostas Sakkas: Three years on remand in order to… make an example

Translation of Katerina Kati’s article for The Editors’ Νewspaper, 03 June 2013

Re-posted from eagainst.com

He has been on remand for 3 years and was prosecuted twice for the same offence, despite the fact that his name doesn't even appear in the case file.

The maximum time he should spend on remand expires tomorrow; and he chose this date to start a hunger strike, clarifying that “this is not an act of desperation, but rather to keep up the fight.”

Nachrichten aus Griechenland #10 - 15. Juni 2013

Übersetzt von Real Democracy Now! Berlin/GR & @lamda

Nachrichten- Übersicht der vergangenen Woche:

• Mit einer überraschenden Entscheidung beschloss die gr Regierung am Dienstag den öffentlichen Rundfunk ERT zu schließen. Direkt darauf besetzte das Personal bis heute die Anstalt, während die Unterstützung und Solidarität von Bürgern, sogar Journalisten und Medien und ihren Verbänden, im In- und Ausland, weiter zunimmt.
• Die Gerichtsverhandlung von Kostas Vaxevanis bezüglich des Falles der „Lagarde Liste“  wurde auf den kommenden Oktober verschoben. 
• Die meisten Arbeitsplätze von Hellas Gold in Skouries werden staatlich subventionierte Ausbildungsplätze sein.
• Wehrdienstverweigerer Nikolaos Karanikas wurde erneut verhaftet

«Het Griekenland dat me pijn doet»

Vertaling van een artikel uit “Le Monde" van Angélique Kourounis -  (gebaseerd op de Griekse vertaling die te vinden is op). Vertaling in het Nederlands: @iptamenos33

Het is dinsdagavond. Zojuist zijn er drie televisiezenders in Griekenland op zwart gegaan en het is mijn partner die me daarover bericht met een sms-je. Hij is een Fransman die al 23 jaar in Griekenland woont en net als de Grieken niet begrijpt wat er allemaal in dit land gebeurt.
Het vraagstuk van de persvrijheid is in Griekenland al decennia lang één grote grap. Het is een volstrekt relatief begrip. Net als de verdeling der machten die een democratie kenmerkt: ze is er wel, maar ze is permeabel. De vierde macht, bijvoorbeeld, vertegenwoordigt vaak de eerste, verdedigt de tweede en verschuilt zich tijdens protesten achter de derde.

De leus "schoften, slijmballen, journalisten" die je tijdens demonstraties vaak hoort, is niet uit de lucht komen vallen. De kreet zegt veel over het wantrouwen van de Grieken tegenover de media. De ERT vormt daarop geen uitzondering, want daar waar de privéomroepen commerciële belangen vertegenwoordigen, was de publieke omroep toch vooral een staatsomroep.

Guest post - Greece: the battle for ERT and the difficult but necessary path from protest to political change

By Panagiotis Sotiris [1]

After the June 2012 election in Greece one of the main preoccupations of both the Greek government and the Troika (EU-IMF-ECB) representatives was to present an image of a strong government that would stand firm and would not succumb the pressure coming from a society in despair. For some time this tactic seemed to work, aided by the inability of mass protests to produce concrete positive results and the choice of the SYRIZA leadership to opt for a “ripe fruit” strategy regarding governmental power. However the ongoing struggle over the fate of Greek Public Television and Radio (ERT) has put an end to this fantasy of a strong government in a position to smoothly pass socially devastating legislation.

In the struggle for ERT, for the first time we have had a mass movement that led to a significant political rupture. The combination of  a defiant stance from ERT employees who decided to occupy the premises and continue broadcasting, even in the form of web TV, creating a tangible example of the quality of public service that self-management can bring, with a broader social and political mobilization in support of ERT and in opposition to the authoritarian turn of the Samaras government that led to the mass presence outside ERT headquarters and local stations, intensified a deeper governmental crisis that had its roots in the social and economic crisis and the inability for the Greek government to offer an exit from the vicious circle of recession, austerity and unemployment. Contrary to the prevailing myth, even within the forces of the Left, that people are disappointed and that it would be difficult to urge them to go back in the streets, the struggle over ERT brought forward the potential for solidarity, mass mobilization and support of an important struggle. The struggle over ERT became the metonymy for all forms of aggression against not only social rights, but also against democracy per se. The black screens became the symbol of the aggressive, undemocratic character of both contemporary neoliberalism and Troika supervision that dictate political measures. This can explain the extent and the duration of the protests about ERT.

Informativo semanal desde Grecia #37 - 22 Junio 2013

Radiobubble Informativo Semanal 22 Junio 2013 by Mpatman on Mixcloud

En las noticias de #rbnews internacional de esta semana:

• Las reacciones por la decisión del gobierno griego en cerrar la ERT lleva uno de los partidos que forman la coalición de gobierno salir del gobierno 
• Se multiplican las voces que reaccionan al concurso de provisión de la red digital de televisión 
• El gobierno griego cierra hospitales, escuelas y guarderias
• Mientras la arbitrariedad policial continúa en Skuriés el sindicato de policías de Calcídica pide el apoyo permanente de antidisturbios en la región
• Acusados por difamación por diputados de la Aurora Dorada se llevan a juicio el ex-rector de la Universidad Politécnica de Atenas, y el secretario general del Partido Revolucionario de los Obreros 

#rbnews weekly bulletin 15-21 June 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews international show 22 June 2013: Happy birthday Mr. Prime Minister

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the formation of the coalition government in June 2012 (and of the day when it lost one of its three member parties), we discussed its achievements (or lack thereof) over the past year with @tsimitakis and @YiannisBab.

You can listen to the podcast, as usual, after the jump.

Bulletin d'informations du 22 Juin 2013 en Grèce #37

                            Rbnews bulletin en francais 20130622 by Irategreek on Mixcloud

A la une de #rbnews international cette semaine:

• Les réactions à la décision du gouvernement grec de fermer ERT mène l'un des trois partis au pouvoir à quitter la coalition gouvernementale. 
• Les réactions à un appel d'offre truqué pour la sélection d'un fournisseur de réseau de télévision numérique se multiplient. 
• Le gouvernement grec ferme des hôpitaux, des écoles primaires et des maternelles.
• Les violences policières se poursuivent en Chalcidique, alors que le Syndicat régional des policiers demande des renforts permanents de police anti-émeutes.
• L'ancien recteur de l'Ecole polytechnique d'Athènes et le président du Parti ouvrier révolutionnaire sont menés en procès pour diffamation par l'Aube dorée.

More truths and lies about ERT: was government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou an ERT employee?

In the statement he delivered in the evening of Tuesday 11 June on behalf of the government, when the shutdown of Greece's public broadcaster ERT was officially announced, spokesman Simos Kedikoglou justified the government's decision by saying, among other things: "The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, ERT, is a typical case of unique opacity and incredible waste of public money (...) It is governed by opacity in the sector of contract management."

The irony of this statement was not lost on ERT staff, who were prompt to note that Simos Kedikoglou was himself recruited as an ERT journalist in 1995, at a time when his father, Vasilis Kedikoglou, was a member of parliament with then-governing party PASOK. This was also denounced by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, in response to whom Kedikoglou's office published a statement, that was reported by To Ethnos newspaper on 14 June:

As noted by his collaborators, Mr. Kedikoglou was never appointed at ERT. Quite the opposite, he worked at ERT on a fixed-term contract, "and his first job was a night shift from midnight to 6 am during the first Gulf War."
"ERT was then looking for journalists who speak foreign languages, who were uncommon at the time, for the needs of its round-the-clock coverage, and Mr. Kedikoglou speaks fluent English, French and Russian." (...) [1]

In an article published today on tvxs.gr, former ERT news director Giorgos Kogiannis chose to expose Mr. Kedikoglou by releasing the document that ratified Mr. Kedikoglou's recruitment by ERT on an open-ended contract - meaning that Mr. Kedikoglou was recruited by ERT as, essentially, a civil servant with tenure.

Kogiannis further notes that Kedikoglou's recruitment came at a time when hundreds of ERT employees were on two-month contracts and were being paid with delays of several months. By the time a decree by then-Minister of Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos gave permanent positions to temporary workers in the civil service in 2006, some journalists had been on short-term contracts for 25 years (implying, also, that these journalists constantly risked being fired if they didn't toe the government line). In 1995, no open-ended positions were available in the Greek civil service at large, meaning that Kedikoglou's position was created specifically for him. Kedikoglou was subsequently sponsored by ERT to attend training with CNN, before finally joining a talk show on private TV station MEGA.

[1] Editor's note CORRECTED: This post initially mistranslated the Greek expression "γερμανικό νούμερο" as "German-language coverage" It actually means night shift. 

<<< Previous post in this series: Truths and lies about ERT: A former news director answers the Prime Minister's claims

Next post in this series: Greece: the battle for ERT and the difficult but necessary path from protest to political change >>>

Wekelijks bulletin uit Griekenland 15 juni 2013 #17

Deze week in het nieuws bij rbnews international:

• De regering heeft dinsdag besloten om de publieksomroep ERT te sluiten. Dit besluit kwam als een totale verrassing. De werknemers bezetten meteen het gebouw van ERT, en houden het nog altijd bezet. De bezetting van ERT kan rekenen op enorme solidariteit van de burgers en van journalistenorganisaties en buitenlandse media. 
• Het proces tegen Kostas Vaxevanis over de lijst Lagarde is tot oktober uitgesteld. 
• Het merendeel van de banen bij Ellinikos Chrysos in Skouries zijn door de staat gesubsidieerd stageplekken. 
• Gewetensbezwaarde dienstweigeraar Nikos Karanikas opnieuw gearresteerd. 

An ERT cellist on the shutdown: “They don’t realise what they do.”

By @kixes, re-posted from #spuddings

The performance was short. Extracts from Mozart’s Requiem, voices interwoven with the melodies and harmonies from strings, brass and woodwinds. When it was over there was a short silence before the applause, and members of the chorus raised their arms with the ‘V’ sign. The applause went on and on, and one by one audience members stood up to give the ERT orchestra a standing ovation.

Considering that one of their last official concerts drew a crowd of 1,200, Tuesday night’s reception was a modest one. But the applause went on and on, a rhythmic clap as the orchestra stood for their bows and the conductor hugged the concert master.

After all, who knows how long more this orchestra can go on?

An "unsolved" case of violence

By Ada Psarra for the Editors' Newspaper, summarized/translated by @rebeloskilo

Anaxagora street, 11 May 2008. A 24-year-old man is immobilized by 4 special guards [1]. “He was handcuffed, he was made to kneel while one police officer held him in a headlock him and two others were beating his head. They were accompanied by a female officer”, says the eyewitness. Nikos Sakellion falls into a coma at the hands of the police officers and the video captured by the eyewitness depicts them abandoning their victim after removing his handcuffs.

The eyewitness states that the officers dragged him for 8 metres, turned him upside down and then left him. A police officers called the national ambulance service, EKAB, through the State organization against drugs, OKANA, in order to link Sakellion’s death to substance abuse.

Truths and lies about ERT: A former news director answers the Prime Minister's claims

On 16 June, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wrote a long opinion piece for the Sunday edition of newspaper Kathimerini (which, incidentally, was published despite the fact that all media were officially on strike) to justify his decision to shut down Greece's public broadcaster ERT. Former ERT news director Giorgos Kogiannis wrote in turn an answer to the Prime Minister on the newly established ERT workers' blog, in which he points out several contradictions between Samaras's claims and some actual facts and emphasizes that Samaras's criticism of ERT should apply, first and foremost, to his own choices and those of his entourage. We are summarizing this indirect dialogue below.

The lost signal of democracy

Re-posted from Exandas Documentaries

Yorgos Avgeropoulos (documentary filmmaker,
author & director of the Exandas Documentary Series) writes:

The unprecedented decision by the government to shut down ERT – the Greek Public Broadcaster has been a heavy blow for all. Both me and my colleagues, journalists and technicians, we ran immediately at the ERT Broadcasting Center. Since the beginning, every day we are recording what we see. We just edited quickly nine minutes to not erase from our memory what happened the first day. This is our way to react. We will continue as much as we can.
This is a rough cut sequence, part of the feature-length documentary that we are filming since the beginning of the crisis, for the last three years. It is called “AGORÁ - From Democracy to the Market” and it is an international co-production of major TV networks. AGORÁ will be released in April 2014.

THE LOST SIGNAL OF DEMOCRACY from Yorgos Avgeropoulos on Vimeo.

Main Credits:
Written & Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos
Producers: Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Anastasia Skoubri
Picture: Yiannis Avgeropoulos, Anna Prokou
Music: Yiannis Paxevanis
Production Manager: Anastasia Skoubri
Editing: Anna Prokou, Vasilis Magos
Researchers: Georgia Anagnou, Ahilleas Kouremenos, Andreas Vagias
A Small Planet production © 2013-2014 smallplanet.gr

<<< Previous post: The Council of State ruling about ERT: what on earth does it mean?

Next post in this series: Truths and lies about ERT: A former news director answers the Prime Minister's claims >>>

The Council of State ruling about ERT: what on earth does it mean?

Last night the Council of State issued a ruling which was hailed as overturning common ministerial decision  OIK 02/11.06.2013 that shut down with immediate effect Greece's public broadcaster ERT, leaving TV watchers in front of a black screen. The Council of State specifically orders:

1. That enforcement of the common ministerial decision is suspended "exclusively with regard to those items pertaining to a) the interruption of transmissions of radio and television signals and of operations of websites owned by ERT, and b) the fact that ERT frequencies should remain inactive (article 2, § 2, item b of the common ministerial decision)."

2. That competent ministers [i.e. the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State responsible for media affairs] should take "necessary organizational measures for the resumption of radio and television signal transmissions and the operation of websites owned by a public broadcaster until the establishment of a new agency which will serve the public interest, as stipulated in article 1 § 2 of the common ministerial decision."

But what does this mean in practice?

A map of Greece’s media corrupt relationships (part 1)

Edited by @galaxyarchis and translated by @inflammatory_

If we wish to keep track of Greece’s media corrupt relationships and especially those between media owners and the state’s political power, we’d need to write a book. Add their historical background on top of this and we have managed to fill a whole bookcase. Although it’s not considered to be solely a Greek phenomenon, what is most interesting is that the media-politics relationship within Greek borders, boasts a unique past, present (and future) as well as drama.

We won’t engage with historical flashbacks, although they could fully explain the media’s role in the current political landscape.  Instead we may use a “map” designed by Nikos Smyrnaios last April. This is his third chart in a  row (1,2) that illustrates the relationship between dominant media and the business elite, the transformations imposed on media-ownership and the emerging dynamics among publishers and businessmen in the last years. 

Click to enlarge.

The conclusions drawn from the chart on how media landscape has been shaped since 2008 are the following:

Emission sur #ERT à RadioPanik de Bruxelles

Les développements autour de la Radio et Télévision grecques (ERT) ont attiré une grande attention de la part des médias étrangers et, en l'occurence francophones.

En cliquant sur le lien ci-dessous vous pouvez écouter une émission  enrégistrée, préparée et diffusée chez RadioPanik, une radio libre et altérnative bruxelloise. Pour mettre les auditeurs non-grecs dans l'ambiance, on commence en donnant le contexte plus général des derniers mois, pour arriver rapidement à la tourmente de la ERT et le tollé qu'elle a provoqué.

Bonne écoute!

clic

Informativo semanal desde Grecia #36 - 15 Junio 2013

Radiobubble Informativo Semanal 15 Junio 2013 by Mpatman on Mixcloud

En las noticias de #rbnews de esta semana:

• En una sorprendiente decisión, el gobierno griego decidió cerrar la radiotelevisión pública, ERT este pasado martes. Los trabajadores procedieron de inmediato a la ocupación de su sede en señal de protesta, ocupación que continúa hoy en día. Mientras, el apoyo y la solidaridad de la ciudadanía griega y de las asociaciones de periodistas y medios de comunicación en el extranjero va en aumento.
• El juicio a Kostas Vaxevanis por el caso de la lista Lagarde ha quedado aplazado hasta octubre.
• La mayoría de los puestos de trabajo que creará la compañía Oro Griego en Skuriés serán subvencionado por el Estado.
• El objetor de conciencia Nikos Karanikas ha sido arrestado de nuevo.

In focus: Why is the Greek government trying to shut down ERT? - The role of digital network provider DIGEA

On Tuesday 11 June 2013, the Greek government announced its decision to shut down the country's public broadcaster ERT and proceeded with taking all ERT television and radio channels off the air.

This came as a public consultation is under way to determine the terms under which a network provider will be selected to complete the country's transition to digital television.

Radiobubble interviewed on Friday 14 June 2013 ERT senior technician Nikos Michalitsis, whose analysis of the call for expressions of interest for digital network providers bears ominous signs for the future of press freedom in Greece. We are posting the interview below.

You can listen to this week's full #rbnews international show here.

<<< Previous post in this series: #rbnews international show 15 June 2013 - Why is the government shutting down ERT?

Next post in this series: A map of Greece’s media corrupt relationships (part 1) >>>

#rbnews international show 15 June 2013 - Why is the government shutting down ERT?

This week on #rbnews international, our guest was Michael Nevradakis, who also runs a web radio station, Dialogos Radio, and who has been actively following the government shutdown of Greece's national broadcaster ERT. We summarized how the Greek government is trying to close ERT and the reasons behind this decision.

You can follow Michael on Twitter @dialogosmedia.

And of course, you can listen to the podcast after the jump.

Notiziario dalla Grecia #11 - 8 giugno 2013

Tra le notizie di questa settimana di # rbnews internazionale:

• Un rifugiato curdo ad Atene viene dirottato, direttamente, tra le braccia della polizia turca
• La giornalista canadese Naomi Klein ha visitato la fabbrica autogestita di Skuries
• Un decreto presidenziale vieta le piccole manifestazioni in Grecia
• Alba Dorata, presenta un disegno di legge per rendere reato il razzismo contro i greci
• Libro bianco dei fotogiornalisti greci sulla violenza della polizia contro i giornalisti, è stato censurato dal Parlamento Europeo
• Minacce del vescovo di Salonicco contro il Gay Pride e chiamata alla detenzione di transgender
• Una clinica sociale di Atene è stata minacciata dall'ufficio stampa della società elettrica statale.

Bulletin d'informations du 15 juin 2013 en Grèce #36

Bulletin FR radiobubble Grece 130615 by Krot on Mixcloud

A la une de #rbnews international cette semaine:

• Sans aucun préavis, le gouvernement a decidé mardi de fermer la Radio et Télévision publiques. Les employés ont tout de suite occupé le siège de la compagnie publique, ce qui continue jusqu'à présent, tandis que une grande vague de solidarité a été developpée par les citoyens, ainsi que les médias internationaux. 
• Le procès de Costas Vaxevanis concernant le cas de la liste Lagarde a été réporté pour le mois d'octobre. 
• Une grosse partie des postes de travail de Hellas Gold à Skouries, seront des stages subventionnés par l'Etat. 
• L'objecteur de conscience, Nikos Karanikas, a été arrêté encore une fois. 

Solidarity messages to ERT from Britain

International cover pages about ERT

ΤHE NUJ STANDS UP FOR JOURNALISM IN GREECE

The union took part in international condemnation of the ERT closure announcement on Wednesday 12 June and sends solidarity messages to colleagues on strike in Greece today. The Greek government is trying to shut down the public broadcasting organisation’s three TV stations, radio and regional radio stations, satellite emissions and internet portal with the sacking of all staff. The Greek trade unions have responded by organising a general strike in support of journalism and media workers. ERT journalists continued to resist the closure and are broadcasting live from the occupied studios in Athens.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “The shocking announcement on Tuesday of 2,700 job cuts and the closure of public broadcaster ERT has been roundly condemned, this immediate response has been inspiring to us. The break down of the public media in Greece is a barbaric act that has been inflicted on journalists and media workers as part of an increasingly vicious austerity programme. We are not prepared to pay for the economic crisis we did not create. The decision of the state to close down ERT must be reversed. It is an appalling attack on the media and on Greek democracy. Our unity as journalists and media workers in solidarity must gives us strength. The NUJ in the UK and Ireland stands up for journalists and offers support and assistance to colleagues – we reject attempts to divide us from our humanity and we are united to stand up for journalism.”

source


Calls for solidarity mobilisations

London, Edinburgh Bristol

ERT shutdown - Live blog 14 June 2013

Good morning and welcome to radiobubble's rolling coverage of developments related to the government's decision to shut down ERT, Greece's public radio and television broadcaster. You can read about what happened in the past three days here, here and here.

Here are a few useful tidbits of information to start the day:

• The EBU is still livestreaming ERT (watch here). It appears however that ERT radio and television is back on air on analog frequencies in some parts of the country. ERT World seems to be broadcasting normally abroad while ERT radio is broadcasting nationwide through Flash fm radio. 
• The Hellenic Parliament reportedly came under attack from Anonymous last night. It is unclear yet what information exactly they gathered, but the cyber attack was apparently on an extremely large scale and included email correspondence of MPs. 
• The Communist Party's television station 902, whose digital frequency has been going off air in the last few days, conducted some tests to determine if this was an accident or not, by broadcasting their regular programming and then switching to ERT live. Every time they did, the signal was thrown off air within seconds. In its statement, 902 denounces the government but also digital transmission service DIGEA, a private company which is enforcing the government's policy to silence anyone who broadcasts ERT. 
• Protests against the shutdown of ERT are continuing in Greece and abroad; for example at least three rallies are planned in the UK today in London, Edinburgh and Bristol. Another one is planned in Sydney, Australia on Sunday. 
• @plitharas compiled here a good sample of international media about the ERT shutdown. 

We will be updating this post throughout the day. 

ERT shutdown - Round-up of developments 13 June 2013

Protests continued today across Greece to protest the government's abrupt decision in the evening of Tuesday 11 June to shut down public radio and television broadcaster ERT (see here and here). Several labour unions called for a general strike today, including the civil servants' union ADEDY, the General Confederation of Labour GSEE and communist-affiliated PAME. The media strike, which started yesterday for radio and television stations, extended today to newspapers. As a result all media except ERT and media re-transmitting ERT were on strike. A large demonstration took place in front of the ERT headquarters in the morning, while several other rallies and protests were held in other cities and towns across Greece and abroad (photo gallery below). The media strike in Greece will continue tomorrow, with journalists' unions calling upon all unions and citizens to support not only ERT with protecting the compound but also to ensure that media tycoons cannot whip up support or intimidate workers to break the strike in privately-owned media. The journalists' unions further call upon all internet-based media to embed the ERT broadcast in their websites.

Nachrichten aus Griechenland #9 - 8. Juni 2013

Übersetzt von Real Democracy Now! Berlin/GR & @lamda

Nachrichten- Übersicht der vergangenen Woche:

• Kurdischer Flüchtling wird zum Entführungsopfer in Athen und landet in den Händen der türkischen Polizei
• Die kanadische Journalistin Naomi Klein besucht Skouries in Chalkidiki und die selbstverwaltete Fabrik BioMe
• Durch eine Präsidialverordnung werden fortan in Griechenland kleine Demonstrationen verboten. 
• Antirassismusgesetzentwurf von neonazi-Partei Chryssi Avgi (Goldene Morgenröte)
• Zensur im EU- Parlament: Ausstellung der Fotojournalisten aus Griechenland über die polizeiliche Gewalt gegen Journalisten wird zensiert
• Drohungen des Bischofs von Thessaloniki gegen die gay pride Parade und Festnahmen von Transgender-Person

"La Grèce est officiellement devenue un pays autoritaire"

L'article est apparu sur le journal belge La Libre Belgique

Carte blanche de Maxime Kouvaras, journaliste grec et indépendant.

En tant que Grec mais aussi en tant que journaliste, j’ai été profondément choqué par la décision aussi brutale que violente du gouvernement Samaras de fermer l’espace public audiovisuel sans aucun débat préalable ni préavis.

Il est vrai qu’une réforme était nécessaire. ERT n’était certainement pas un média indépendant. La Grèce est sans doute le seul pays d’Europe où l’on qualifiait la télévision publique de télévision d’Etat. Le terme n’est pas anodin. Le gouvernement nommait directement le directeur et la censure était pratique courante.

J’ai eu l’occasion de m’en rendre compte. De 2002 à 2006, j’ai collaboré avec des émissions hebdomadaires diffusées par ERT et certains de mes sujets ont été refusés. Je pense par exemple à un reportage sur le lien entre les télévisions locales et les partis politiques en vue des élections communales. J’avais comparé la situation grecque avec la Belgique et le reportage n’a jamais été diffusé.

The shutdown of ERT - Live blog 12 June 2013

Following the government's decision to shut down Greece's national broadcaster ERT yesterday and demonstrations across the country throughout the night, we will be live-blogging today the latest developments on this issue.

A summary of key events yesterday (more here):

• The government issued in the morning an act of legislative content which enables ministers to shut down public agencies and sack their staff with a simple signature. Acts of legislative content are an emergency procedure that allows the government to enact legislation immediately and seek the approval of parliament within three-and-a-half months. 
• The decision to shut down ERT and sack its ~2,700 staff was issued by 9 pm. 
• Reaction was immediate from labour unions, opposition parties, international media watchdogs and the public at large. Rallies gathered outside ERT facilities across the country while ERT journalists took over the facilities and continued broadcasting. 
• The two junior partners of the government coalition, PASOK and Democratic Left, have stated their opposition to the shutdown of ERT and announced that they will not approve the bill when it comes to parliament. 
• The police was sent to take down ERT transmission facilities late at night. At this point, some other media are broadcasting ERT's signal, mostly online.  
• A general media strike began this morning at 6 am for radio and television stations, with newspapers due to join tomorrow. Media who are broadcasting ERT's signal are exempt from the strike. 
• The government announced this morning that a new public broadcaster, called NERIT (New Hellenic Radio, Internet and TV), will be established by 29 August and will operate with 1000 to 1200 employees. The bill to establish the new broadcaster can be found here. 
• More rallies against the shutdown of ERT are planned today across the country. 

Greece: The government wants to shut down public radio and television

Reports started coming in early this afternoon that the government was intending either to shut down or to downsize the National Radio and Television corporation (ERT), with a purpose to sack its employees and reach the targets it agreed with Greece's troika of lenders (the EU, ECB and IMF) to sack 15,000 civil servants by the end of 2014. By late afternoon, the reports had become that ERT would be shut down by midnight. ERT currently employs 2,656 civil servants with tenure and 246 fixed-term staff, who all stand now to lose their jobs.

Sackings on such a scale are unlikely to improve the situation of press freedom in Greece. Dimitris Trimis, the chairman of the Athens Daily Newspaper Editors' Union, told is last week on the #rbnews international show:

The thousands of sackings in media, the pay cuts, the fear that media will collapse and shut down, together with the parameter I just mentioned [the unhealthy links between media, big business and politics], creates a climate of violent censorship and self-censorship among people who work in the media. Therefore, we cannot talk of freedom of expression, and this is why international researchers keep demoting Greece in indexes where countries are ranked according to freedom of speech and objectivity, or at least honesty, in information.  

#Taksim developments until 14h (local)

The police entered Gezi park at 14h (local)

Here's the latest developments in Istanbul and the Taksim battlefield, according to @wearerabble 's tweets. An interesting side of the story is that it appears that mainstream media started showing footage from the protests (and yet not exactly fresh at all times); on the other hand, there are protesters confirming the presence of plain-cloth policemen at the protests.

Here's the storify:

De Vaxevanis-rechtszaak: geen advocaten of getuigen? Blijkbaar geen enkel probleem.

Oorspronkelijke post geplaatst door @IrateGreek, vertaling @iptamenos33

Zoals we eerder vandaag meldden, vond vandaag in Athene de nieuwe rechtszaak plaats tegen de Griekse journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, die in oktober 2012 een lijst met meer dan 2000 namen van Griekse rekeninghouders bij Zwitserse banken publiceerde. Het kostte de rechtbank uiteindelijk anderhalf uur (van 9:00 tot 10:30) en drie privéoverleggen in reces, om vast te stellen dat de rechtszaak moest worden uitgesteld vanwege de afwezigheid van twee van de drie advocaten van de verdediging en van drie van de vier getuigen à decharge.

Le procès Vaxevanis: pas de témoins, pas d'avocats? Apparemment, pas de problème.

Traduit par @IrateGreek

Comme nous l'indiquions dans un billet précédent, le nouveau procès de Kostas Vaxevanis, pour avoir publié, en octobre 2012, une liste de plus de 2 000 noms de Grecs détenteurs de comptes en banque en Suisse, mieux connue sous le nom de « liste Lagarde, »  devait avoir lieu le matin du 10 juin 2013 au tribunal d'Athènes. Il a fallu à la cour une heure et demie toute entière, de 9h à 10h30 du matin, et trois conversations privées pendant des suspensions d'audience, pour déterminer qu'en l'absence de deux des trois avocats de la défense, et de trois des quatre témoins de la défense, le procès ne pourrait pas avoir lieu et devrait être reporté.

La liste Lagarde et le procès de Kostas Vaxevanis

De @Polyfimos, traduit par @IrateGreek

Le 6 juin 2013, l'ancien tsar de l'économie grecque George Papaconstantinou regardait l'assemblée plénière du parlement grec, qui l'avait déjà mis en accusation pour falsification de document et faute professionelle grave, procéder à un vote afin d'ajouter aux les accusations portées contre lui la déloyauté, dans le cadre du scandale de la liste de 2 062 Grecs détenteurs de comptes bancaires en Suisse, mieux connue sous le nom de « liste Lagarde. »

Quatre jours plus tard, Kostas Vaxevanis, le journaliste qui avait été arrêté et jugé pour avoir publié les noms de la liste le 27 octobre 2012 se retrouvait, pour la deuxième fois, à la place de l'accusé pour la même affaire, après que le procureur a exigé un nouveau procès, parce que le tribunal « n'a pas accordé une importance suffisante aux preuves du dossier et les a mal prises en compte. »

Ce deuxième procès est venu à la suite d'un premier, le 1er novembre 2012, qui, comme le dit Kostas Vaxevanis  lui-même dans une lettre ouverte au président de la Commission européenne José Manuel  Barroso, avait été mené avec une telle hâte que « l'acte d'accusation ne comprenait aucune preuve, pas même une copie du magazine. Les chefs d'accusation avaient été préparés en telle hâte qu'ils ont même oublié de mettre le sceau du procureur sur le dossier. »

El juicio a Vaxevanis: ¿sin abogados ni testigos? Al parecer no hay problema

Por @IrateGreek, traducido por 15M Barcelona Internacional

El nuevo juicio a Kostas Vaxevanis por la publicación, en octubre de 2012, de una lista con más de 2000 nombres de los titulares de cuentas bancarias griegas en Suiza, también conocida como la lista Lagarde, se celebró esta mañana en el juzgado de Atenas. El tribunal tomó una hora y media, desde las 9:00 hasta las 10:30 am, y tres conversaciones privadas en el receso, para determinar que, en ausencia de dos de los tres abogados de la defensa y de tres de los cuatro testigos de la defensa, el juicio debía posponerse.

Específicamente cuando el tribunal había convocado, el único abogado Haris Oikonomopoulos y la testigo Dimitra Galani estuvieron presentes en la corte. Los otros dos abogados, Nikos Konstantopoulos y Vasilis Kapernaros, estuvieron ausentes, el primero por razones de salud, mientras que el segundo tenía otros dos casos que iban a juicio por la mañana (uno de ellos por un escuadrón de fuerzas especiales antiterroristas que se habían movilizado.) debe tenerse en cuenta que V. Kapernaros es también un diputado del partido griego independiente y miembro de la comisión de investigación parlamentaria para la lista Lagarde.

Informativo semanal desde Grecia #35 - 08 Junio 2013

Radiobubble Informativo Semanal 08 Junio 2013 by Mpatman on Mixcloud

En las noticias de esta semana de #rbnews internacional:

• Secuestran un Kurdo refugiado en Atenas y acaba en las manos de la policía turca
• La periodista canadiense Naomi Klein visitó Skuriés en Calcídica y la fábrica autogestionada VioME
• Un decreto presidencial prohíbe la mayoría de las pequeñas protestas en Grecia
• Proyecto de ley contra el supuesto racismo contra griegos por el partido neonazi de Aurora Dorada
• Exhibición de un informe de los fotográfos griegos sobre la violencia policial contra periodistas censurado en el parlamento europeo
• Amenazas del obispo de Tesalónica contra el orgullo gay y detenciones de personas transgénero
• Una clínica social en Atenas se ve amenazada por el director de prensa de la empresa de electricidad estatal

The Vaxevanis trial: no lawyers, no witnesses? Apparently no problem.

Posted by @IrateGreek

As we posted earlier today, the re-trial of Kostas Vaxevanis for publishing, back in October 2012, a list of 2000+ names of Greek bank account holders in Switzerland, known as the Lagarde list, was due to take place this morning in the Athens courthouse. It took the court a full hour and a half, from 9:00 until 10:30am, and three private conversations in recess, to determine that, in the absence of two of three defense lawyers and of three of four defense witnesses, the trial should be postponed.

Grèce: la liberté de la presse en chute libre

A l'occasion du procès aujourd'hui de Kostas Vaxevanis, qui se retrouve une fois encore face à un tribunal pour avoir publié la liste Lagarde, une liste de plus de 2000 Grecs qui ont des comptes en banque à HSBC Genève en Suisse et dont certains, du moins, sont soupçonnés de fraude fiscale, l'équipe de radiobubblenews lance une série d'émissions et de billets au sujet de la question de la liberté de la presse en Grèce.

Depuis le début de la crise grecque en 2009 et l'adoption d'une politique d'austérité sans précédent, les droits de l'homme en Grèce ont subi une érosion constante. Les récits de Grecs qui ne peuvent plus joindre les deux bouts, qui ne peuvent pas payer leurs factures et qui cherchent de la nourriture dans les poubelles abondent dans les médias internationaux, de même que les images d'émeutes pendant de grandes manifestations et les histoires terrifiantes des discours racistes et des actes de violence perpétrés par le parti néonazi Aube dorée. Ce qui est bien moins couvert, cependant, est l'impact spectaculaire des événements des dernières années en Grèce sur la liberté de la presse. Selon Reporters sans frontières, la Grèce, qui se plaçait au 35ème rang dans l'index de la liberté de la presse en 2009, se trouve maintenant au 84ème rang – derrière quasiment tous les pays européens mais aussi derrière des pays qui ne sont pas célèbres pour le caractère démocratique et sain de leur régime politique, tels que le Burkina Faso, Haiti, la République centrafricaine, le Kenya ou le Koweït. De même, le groupe de réflexion américain Freedom House a rétrogradé la Grèce cette année de la catégorie "libre" à la catégorie "partiellement libre", alors qu'Amnesty International a signalé de sérieux motifs d'inquiétude quant à la liberté de la presse, aussi bien dans un rapport sur les violences policières en Grèce daté de 2012 que dans son rapport annuel mondial pour 2013.

The Lagarde list and the trial of Kostas Vaxevanis

By @Polyfimos, translated by @Pexlibanis and @anarresti

On  6 June 2013, former Greek economy czar George Papaconstantinou watched the plenary assembly of the Greek Parliament, which had already  impeached him for doctoring a document and engaging in misconduct, vote to expand charges against him to criminal breach of faith in the scandal of the altered list of 2062 Greek bank account holders in Switzerland, known as  the Lagarde list.

Four  days later, Kostas Vaxevanis, the journalist who was arrested and tried because he first published the names on the list on 27 October 2012, is, for the second time, sitting in the defendant's chair for the same court case, after the prosecution demanded a re-trial, because the court "did not give proper weight to the evidence material and considered it very poorly."

This comes after his first trial on 1 November 2012, which, as pointed out by Kostas Vaxevanis  in an open letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel  Barroso, was conducted ​​with such haste that "the original case file did not include a single element of evidence, not even the incriminating issue of the magazine. The charges were so hastily put together that they even forgot to put the official stamp of the prosecutor on the file."

#rbnews weekly bulletin 01-07 June 2013

Prepared by the #rbnews international team, translated by @IrateGreek 

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

The Crisis turns a "blind eye" to military spending

By @csyllas, translated by @EliVou

Click to enlarge

High levels of military spending have played a significant role in the current European debt crisis and continue to diminish any chance of straightening things out.

This precise relationship between excessive militarization and the debt crisis, is being examined in a new report called "Weapons, Debt and Corruption: Military Expenditure and the Crisis of the EU" put together by think tank Transnational Institute.

During the past five years, there is an un-talked about "elephant" in Brussels. It involves expenses incurred for weapons whilst society is being reduced to shambles with wages and pensions continuously being slashed.

The arms industry continues to show profits from order placements when the total amount spent corresponds to 194 billion in 2010 - an amount equal to the deficits of Greece, Italy and Spain. 

In the case of Greece, the country has analogically spent the highest amounts in Europe over the past four decades on such costs – at the same time the country has spent about twice its GDP compared to the EU average. 

And whilst countries like Germany insist that harsher cuts must be made to social spending in order for states to repay their debts, they are not so emphatic when it comes to defense spending cuts. France and Germany have put pressure on the Greek government not to reduce such expenditure whilst at the same time France is closing a leasing deal with Greece for two of the most expensive European frigates.

According to reports, this move is more "a result of political will, than the initiative of the armed forces." As an adviser to former Prime Minister George Papandreou once said: "Nobody says' buy our vessels otherwise you will not be financially supported." It is obvious, however, that if we do, will seem more supportive. "

#rbnews international show 08 June 2013: Freedom of the press in Greece (or lack thereof)

This week, on the occasion of the upcoming appeals trial of Kostas Vaxevanis, the journalist who was arrested and tried once already in November 2012 for publishing the Lagarde list in his magazine HOT DOC, the #rbnews international show focused on the issue of freedom of the press in Greece. We were able to interview Kostas Vaxevanis himself, but also Dimitris Trimis, chairman of the Athens Daily Newspaper Editors’ Union, Marios Lolos,  chairman of the Greek Photojournalists’ Union, and his colleague Tatiana Bolari, and Angélique Kourounis, a correspondent for various French-speaking media in Athens, who also acts as the local representative of Reporters Without Borders. This show is part of a series prepared by the radiobubblenews team, which will carry on across the coming week and will seek to discuss the various impediments to the realization of this essential democratic liberty.

You can listen to the podcast, as usual, after the jump.

Bulletin d'informations du 8 juin 2013 en Grèce #35

#rbnews bulletin FR 130608 by Krot on Mixcloud

préparé par l'équipe de #rbnews et traduit par @krotkie

A la une de #rbnews international cette semaine:

• Un réfugié kurde victime d'enlèvement à Athènes, termine dans les bras de la police turque 
• L'auteur et journaliste canadienne, Naomi Klein visite Skouries de Chalkidiki et l'usine autogérée de VioMe 
• Les petites manifestations seront interdites en Grèce, par un décret présidentiel 
• L'Aube Dorée néonazi présente un projet de loi contre le racisme 
• L'exposition des photojournalistes grecs sur la violence policière contre les journalistes a été censurée au Parlement européen 
• L'archevêque de Thessalonique menace le gay pride; et des personnes transexuelles sont interpellées 
• Un dispensaire social à Athènes est menacé par le Directeur de presse de la compagnie d'élecrtricité 

Greece : Freedom of the press in free fall

On the occasion of the upcoming trial of Kostas Vaxevanis, who will be facing an appeals court on 10 June for publishing the Lagarde list, a list of 2000+ bank account holders in the HSBC branch of Geneva, of which some at least are suspected of tax evasion, the radiobubblenews team is launching a series of shows and posts about the issue of freedom of the press in Greece.

Since the start of the Greek crisis in 2009, and the subsequent adoption of unprecedented austerity policies, there has been a constant erosion of human rights in Greece. Stories of people who cannot make ends meet, who can’t afford to pay their utility bills and who are dumpster-diving for food abound in international media, as do images of riots during demonstrations and horror tales of the racist discourse and the acts of violence perpetrated by neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. What is far less covered however, with the exception of the first Vaxevanis trial in November 2012, is the dramatic impact of recent developments in Greece on freedom of the press. According to Reporters Without Borders, Greece, which ranked at number 35 in the freedom of the press index in 2009, now ranks at number 84 – behind virtually every other European country but also but also behind countries that are not famous for their healthy democratic regimes, such as Burkina Faso, Haiti, Central African Republic, Kenya or Kuwait. Similarly, the US-based think tank Freedom House demoted Greece this year from “free” to “partly free,” while Amnesty International noted serious concerns with regard to freedom of the press, both in a special 2012 report on police brutality in Greece and in its global annual report for 2013.