In Athens, a Greek journalist shot dead in front of his home

At the beginning of the afternoon, Friday April 9, just after having recorded the daily program “The Truths with Zina” on the private television channel Star, Giorgos Karaïvaz, famous investigative journalist, specialized in the police report, returns at his home in the quiet suburb of Alimos, south of Athens. He is awaited by two men, on a scooter, who open fire on him, barely out of his car. “Between 17 and 20 sockets” have been found, according to police, who believe that the attack “Was well programmed”, and carried out by “Professionals”.

The 50-year-old, who worked for the ANT1 television channel and then for the right-wing newspaper Eleftheros Typos before joining Star in 2017, was killed instantly. Ballistics were on site Friday afternoon to try to determine if the guns had been used at other crime scenes before, while the first witnesses were questioned and the neighborhood watch videos analyzed. Very quickly, on the news site that Giorgos Karaïvaz had created, Bloko, his colleagues wrote: “Some have chosen to silence him, and to prevent him with bullets from writing his articles. “

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Some pointed out, on Friday, that Giorgos Karaïvaz was investigating several sensitive cases, including the arrest of Dimitris Lignadis, the former director of the Greek National Theater, suspected of sexual assault on minors, the evaluation of senior police officers. , or even the controversy after excessive police protection granted to a television presenter. However, for the time being, there is nothing to determine the causes of his death.

“A considerable reach”

The Union of Greek Journalists immediately reacted: “Journalists do not have to be intimidated by killings, violence and threats. We will defend the freedom of the press and the unhindered work of journalists against all pressure, threats and mafia or criminal practices. “ Christophe Deloire, secretary general of the NGO Reporters Without Borders, called on the Greek authorities to investigate this assassination to establish “If there is a link with his quality of journalist, which in our opinion is plausible, even probable”. “If a link is effectively established with his professional practice, a new assassination of a journalist on the European continent will have a considerable impact”, he said on Twitter.

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