AEK FC incites violence against journalists while at the same mourning victim of violence

Greece is ranked 107th in the RSF’s international ranking of press freedom, which means that in reality we probably don’t really have freedom of the press.

One of the reasons why we don’t have real freedom of the press in the country is because various «influential types» believe that they have the right to threaten any journalist who expresses a different – and unpopular – opinion than theirs, and then try to silence them.

And one such individual is Dimitris Melissanidis, the head of AEK FC.

I wrote an article for in.gr on Aug. 8, in which I underlined the huge responsibility of Greek Police (EL.AS) and the government for letting scores of Croatian neo-Nazis reach the Nea Philadelphia district in northwest Athens undisturbed, where they beat, with unprecedented brutality, not only AEK fans but ordinary residents, families with children – and where they murdered a 29-year-old AEK fan.

However, I didn’t fail to cite the responsibilities of all those who allowed a football stadium to be built in a densely populated urban area, where violence can easily spread and harm local residents, and where police cannot easily maneuver to enforce law and order.

I also reminded that this isn’t the first time that these points have been brought up, that they’ve been discussed for years, even before the first bulldozer moved into place to build the new stadium. The reason is that, quite simply, some of us have for years warned that there would be a problem with this particular stadium’s location – and many residents said the same thing all along.

However, more recently we’ve seen the stadium finally acquire an operating permit, even though there were clear deficiencies in its safety plan and in terms of railings and partitions in the stands. A temporary permit was issued even though the relevant official in charge – an engineer by training – at the Attica Regional Government had expressly aired her disagreement.

It appears that this article annoyed AEK FC’s ownership, possibly because it also brought the latter face-to-face with its own responsibility.

“Keep in mind I didn’t even write that AEK FC’s ownership knew there was a real prospect for such an attack against its fans…something that emerges from police authorities’ documents, along with numerous messages by organized AEK fans, who referred to a ‘lethal rendezvous’, while it, AEK FC, failed to take any measure to protect its fans; nor did it demand the immediate mobilization of authorities”

This annoyance finally manifested itself last night when I received a call from a private number from someone claiming to be Dimitris Melissanidis, and as far as I can tell from the voice and the tone of the language, I believe it was indeed Dimitris Melissanidis, the owner of AEK FC.

This phone call was nothing more than a direct threat: «you dirty communist, everything you knew about the stadium is over…you’ll pay for the past and the present…I’ll put you in a box…I’ve put others in a box and you know it, you don’t have a brain, I’ll put you in a box…tell Marinakis to take out an insurance policy on you, so you don’t depart without mourning…I’ve already ordered the box with your dimensions, I’ve got it here and I’m keeping it so you don’t have expenses…I’ll have everyone chasing you…I’ve got you marked…Look at what I’m going to do to you,” were some of the expressions I heard.

It wasn’t the first time I had received such a call from Melissanidis. I had disclosed a previous threat-laden conversation in February 2013, when I was on the receiving end of his threats because I was doing my job as a journalist and writing about the smuggling cases in which Melissanidis had been accused. His threats at the time were also reported in the international media.

This time around, so there’s no doubt that the threats emanate from Melissanidis and AEK FC, the day after the phone call from the person who said he was «Dimitris Melissanidis», AEK FC itself released a public statement that included direct and explicit threats against me.

This was a rude statement that in itself is an insult to the memory of the murdered Michalis, because instead of dealing with the culpability behind the incident, it claims that I am «corrupt to the core, a scientist of lies and vulgarity and above all ‘remote-controlled’ and a ‘juke box’, a man who for years has soiled the term ‘journalist’. It doesn’t omit, at the end, to lob a direct threat: «AEK fans know very well and never forget who Charalambopoulos is and who he represents.”

In other words, the management of a football club, which is mourning the death of one of its fans due to a fascist attack, has nothing better to consider than to directly target a journalist, simply because he brings the club before its real responsibilities.

Before you rush to say «okay, it’s just a statement», consider how every fanaticized hooligan reads it, and think twice.

This very message was immediately seized upon by a corps of supposed «fans», who rushed to send me dozens of threatening messages – many of them anonymous. Let them know that I have kept their messages and there will be lawsuits filed against them as well.

Anyone who wants to understand why our country is in 107th place for press freedom and why it’s in danger of falling even lower, should look directly at such threatening practices, which are reminiscent of the Camorra in Naples and the Sicilian Mafia.

Although I will not be silent, just as I wasn’t the last time Melissanidis threatened me, consider how much the average journalist faces such threats, and then thinks «forget it, I don’t want the hassle».

No one should think that this is just about me. Reporters and TV crews were attacked outside the AEK stadium, as a statement by the Athens Journalists’ Union (ESIEA) underlines.

And because I pledged not to be silent, let me say the following: If Melissanidis and AEK are reacting this way, it’s not because they feel they are «offended», or out of excessive sensitivity for the unfortunate fan, for whose memory I am seeking responsibility, precisely because I fully respect his memory. It’s because on May 29, 2024 the UEFA Europa Conference League final is scheduled to take place at the AEK stadium.

Apparently, they’re concerned that UEFA will now have reasonable second thoughts about whether such an international final can be held in a venue that doesn’t actually meet all safety standards – a stadium which, since its “inauguration” and up to last Monday, has witnessed four deaths. Two inside, fans who died in the suffocating atmosphere during the derby against Panathinaikos Athens last January, and two people in the surrounding vicinity: a 48-year-old man in May and now 29-year-old Michalis.

However, if this is the reality, let those who allowed this stadium to be built at this location, with these characteristics and problems, take responsibility.

This matter of threats against me is not personal. Ultimately, on a personal level, I will take all necessary legal action to bring those who threaten me to justice.

This is a political matter, because at some point someone will have to answer if and why this «preferential treatment» enjoyed by this particular AEK FC management has existed for years vis-a-vis all their demands.

Why did successive governments accommodate it?

Why, even now, does the government fail to examine the responsibilities that exist on that side as well?

The questions concerning both the government and political parties are specific:

Can there be «immunity» for Camorra-like practices in Greek football?

Can there be «immunity» for threats against journalists?

Can there be «immunity» for decisions wrongly made to serve the demands of «influential persons», which at the critical moment prove fatal?

At some point the current government, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the relevant ministers, Yiannis Economou and Giorgos Floridis, must decide what to do with Mr. Melissanidis and his entire «state within a state». They can no longer act «as if everything is beautifully created by angels». They have a responsibility.

As does ESIEA, which has been notified, and whose decisions are pending.

I for one am not going to remain silent. I never have, and I won’t remain silent now.