Battle for the truth
In a new two-page announcement in the press, Socrates Kokkalis’s company Intracom has attempted once more to cloud over reality and present the many criminal charges it is confronting as the result of some murky business war. Having included the judicial system in the circle of its persecutors, it is now trying to present Kathimerini as an opposing force. Concerning Kokkalis’s involvement with justice, we don’t have a lot to say. The public prosecutor has made very specific disclosures and accusations which will be judged in court. But Intracom’s ongoing attempt to reduce the charges to a war of economic interest and to include Kathimerini in this alleged war between competitors cannot go unanswered. Kathimerini stated long ago that its only interests in Greece are in publishing – and this is borne out by its actions. Its owners have no other business activities in this country, nor do they wish to have any. It is involved in international shipping and that is all. It does not seek technical projects, or shares from the Third Community Support Framework, or anything else that would link it to the public sector. It has never sought any commission from Kokkalis or from anyone else. In fact, it withdrew from Teletypos SA precisely so that nobody could pose such questions. So where do Intracom and its satellites perceive this business war? When have Kathimerini’s interests come up against those of Intracom? No such thing has happened. A seeming dispute has been manufactured simply in order to serve Kokkalis’s defense. Kathimerini has done no more than what any newspaper in the world would do. Faithful to the principles of journalism, it investigated Kokkalis’s multifarious activities, because he is one of the leading economic players in the country, whose activities are connected almost exclusively with the State, namely with wealth that was accumulated via the efforts and sacrifices of the Greek people. This is what Kathimerini has done and this is what it will continue to do, whether Kokkalis and his entourage like it or not. Talk of a war is a ploy with one sole purpose, to confuse public opinion and dispel the highly unfavorable impressions arising from journalists’ revelations and prosecutors’ charges.
