Press freedom stifled in Greece, reforms needed, says Human Rights Watch

ATHENS (Reuters) - Press freedom has been stifled in Greece since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' conservative government came to power in 2019, with phone malware and aggressive lawsuits used against journalists, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday. 

At least 15 journalists said they had at some point faced a lawsuit or legal threat for their reporting, the global rights group said in a 101-page report based on interviews with 34 journalists, academics, legal and media experts.

It cited an annual index from Reporters without Borders giving Greece the lowest score in Europe.

HRW said it is too easy under Greek law to restrict journalists through lawsuits know as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), which are filed against reporters based on claims of defamation or breach of EU data protection. 

"The pervasive and deliberate constraints on journalism in Greece are creating an environment in which critical reporting is stifled and self-censorship becomes the norm," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.

The government has publicly dismissed the allegations in the past and its spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said on Wednesday that Greece has made progress on media freedom, as reflected in the Commission's annual report on rule of law.

The topic of press freedom in Greece hit the headlines in 2022 when a wiretapping scandal was revealed after a journalist said his phone had been infected by spyware. Traces of that spyware were later found in dozens of phones.

HRW urged authorities to draft an action plan to include ensuring public media independence, adopting anti-SLAPPs legislation and shielding journalists from surveillance.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)