Attack on Greek TV station
A bomb attack has been carried out against the headquarters of TV station Skai in the Athens suburb of Faliron. Warning calls had prompted the evacuation of the building so that no one was injured. The police are investigating evidence that this was the work of left-wing terrorists. Does ruling party Syriza, which boycotts the conservative broadcaster, bear part of the blame for the attack?
Government has poisoned the climate
Kathimerini, which has its headquarters in the same building as Skai TV and was directly affected by the blast, makes serious allegations against the government:
“The government sought ... to launch a campaign of witch-hunting and scandal-mongering against former ministers and prime ministers, while systematically targeting any media that tried to expose and criticize the mistakes made by the Tsipras administration.The bomb attack against the headquarters of Skai TV and Kathimerini newspaper … was the product of this poisoned climate, which serves as a hotbed for the brainless and the enemies of democracy.”
No more attacks on the media!
The free media must be protected at all costs, To Vima Online demands:
“It is high time that everyone realise that targeting the media cannot be used as a tool for serving fleeting political games. Freedom of the press is not a privilege of the few. It is a necessary constituent element of democracy. Criticism, even when it annoys at times, and checks on power, even when excessive at times, are necessary constituent elements of democracy. Terrorism lives and acts in darkness. Democracy flourishes in the light, in an open confrontation in the battle of ideas.”
Syriza too easy on left-wing extremists
The conservative daily paper Dimokratia blames the government for creating a climate in which this kind of attack takes place:
“The bomb attack against Skai has revealed the fact that the arrest of the members of the 17 November terrorist group did not heal the disease of political violence in Greece. The loud bang of the explosion must finally rouse the government, which instead of being doubly cautious in this matter has applied double standards. Ruling party Syriza's handling of violent rioters, [the anarchist group] Rouvikonas and the goon squads at the universities only makes these potential murderers bolder.”
Ruling party not to blame
Web portal Protagon counters that it's wrong to blame the ruling party for this attack:
“Syriza has - which is stupid - imposed an embargo on Skai because it doesn't like the broadcaster's critical coverage. But to claim that it 'encouraged' those who planted the bomb is dumb. ... The guys who do that kind of thing aren't affected by embargoes. ... They work according to a different 'logic' that has nothing to do with the normal logic most people apply. They are either infinitely idiotic (the most likely option) or they are provocateurs. We have experienced this in the distant and in the recent past [the 17 November Group terrorist organisation] so we shouldn't make the same mistakes by looking in the wrong direction.”