PASOK questions top Greek judge

PASOK accused Supreme Court President Vassiliki Thanou Thursday of exceeding her authority after she wrote to the party to object to a recent statement criticizing her decision to take legal action against an academic who wrote a critical article about the judge.

Socialist chief Fofi Gennimata described as “unacceptable” Thanou’s decision to send a letter to PASOK commenting on the content of a party press release. Gennimata reminded the country’s top judge about the separation of powers and stuck by her original criticism of Thanou’s decision to take legal action against constitutional law professor Stavros Tsakyrakis.

The Supreme Court president decided to sue after Tsakyrakis labeled her “naive” and accused her of engaging in politicking as part of a blog post in which he was critical of Greece’s top judge for writing to her colleagues in other European Union countries asking them to urge the country’s lenders to complete the current bailout review.

Thanou argued that the Athens University academic’s comments were an attack on her reputation and brought the position of Supreme Court president into disrepute. Tsakyrakis has since received the backing of academics and students as well as political parties, which have stressed that he should be allowed to express an opinion under the freedom of speech.

In her letter, Gennimata raised questions about whether Thanou, who served as caretaker prime minister last September, was carrying out her duties properly. To Potami also issued a statement claiming it was “unprecedented for a top judge to try to censor everyone.”