Kostas Vaxevanis facts for kids

Kostas Vaxevanis (Κώστας Βαξεβάνης) is a Greek journalist. He owns and edits the magazine Hot Doc and the newspaper Documento. He was born on May 6, 1966.

Kostas Vaxevanis was born in 1966 in Agia Paraskevi, Lesbos. He started his career in journalism in 1988 at the newspaper Rizospastis. Later, he worked for other newspapers like Eleftherotypia, Kathimerini, and To Vima. In 1991, he began reporting from different parts of the world, including war zones, for television channels like NET and MEGA.

Hot Doc Magazine

In April 2012, Kostas Vaxevanis started publishing a magazine called Hot Doc. This magazine came out every two weeks.

Publishing the Lagarde List

On October 28, 2012, Vaxevanis was arrested. This happened because his magazine published a document known as the Lagarde list. This list contained the names of many Greek customers who had bank accounts in Switzerland. It suggested that these people might not have paid their taxes.

Vaxevanis was accused of sharing private information. He was released from the police station a few hours after his arrest. When he left, he told reporters that he was just doing his job. He felt that instead of arresting people who might have avoided taxes, they were trying to stop the truth from coming out.

The Trials and Acquittals

Vaxevanis had a quick trial on October 29, 2012. Many people compared how fast his case moved to how slowly other important cases were handled. News organizations like The New York Times criticized his prosecution. They said Greece should focus more on investigating financial crimes.

His trial began on November 1 and ended the same day. He was found not guilty. After leaving the courtroom, he shared a famous quote from George Orwell. He said, "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. The rest is public relations."

Later, in 2013, a prosecutor ordered a new trial for Vaxevanis. However, this retrial also ended with him being found not guilty in November 2013.

Concerns for Documento

In October 2019, Vaxevanis raised concerns about his newspaper, Documento. He suggested that the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was trying to cause financial problems for the newspaper. This was because Documento had reported on the Prime Minister's money matters and his family's companies. David Sassoli, who was the president of the European Parliament, even wrote a letter to Vaxevanis. He said there was worry about the situation of the press in Greece.

Also, Vaxevanis's media outlets did not receive government financial help. This aid was given to other Greek media to promote public health messages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uncovering the 2022 Surveillance Crisis

On November 6, 2022, Vaxevanis's newspaper, Documento, published important research. This research was about a big secret surveillance scandal in Greece. The newspaper reported that several important government members were secretly watched. This included the Minister of Foreign Policy, Nikos Dendias, and the Minister of Development, Adonis Georgiadis. The former Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, and another well-known journalist, Alexis Papahelas, were also on the list.

The newspaper said that an Israeli-made program called Predator spyware was used for this secret watching. In total, thirty-three people were reported to be on this surveillance list. Many international news agencies also reported on this story. On November 7, Vaxevanis asked to give his testimony about the matter. The Greek government has not denied these claims.

Awards and Recognition

Kostas Vaxevanis has received several awards for his work in journalism:

• 2013: VII Julio A. Parrado Journalism Award
• 2013: Index on Censorship Journalism Award

See also

In Spanish: Kostas Vaxevanis para niños