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Themis Sofos announced to the Board of Directors of the Athens Bar Association on Wednesday that he has stepped down as Vice President of the DSA and remains a mere member of the Board, while in a tough statement he makes extensive reference to last Friday’s rally in your president’s office. DSA Dimitris Vervesou, during his birthday celebration in which lawyers participated without observing the necessary protection measures against the pandemic.
The resignation of Mr. Sofos has been presented for three weeks, but on Wednesday it was announced to the DSA Board of Directors, accompanied by an extensive statement, in which it is emphasized that “the image delivered on 11/20/2020 (ss: Last Friday) with the behavior of colleagues in the office of the president of DSA explicitly exposes the bar “.
Don’t skip ok. It is prudent to point out that he sees “an elected colleague playing videos of a private moment on social media, thereby satisfying his human-eating instincts or even personal political ambitions, in an obvious conspiracy with journalists: MPs and party factions” and adds:
“I also wonder, if a colleague accepts an order from a citizen who has been harmed by the publication of a video, will he answer that he cannot assume it because he does not believe that it is worthy of the protection of the law?”
The text of Mr. Sophos’s full statement:
“The Athens Bar Association has a long democratic tradition. From its founding until today, the DSA, as the first and largest bar association in the country, has come a long way in public life, closely linked to political developments. and social. Scientific association and at the same time trade union body, the DSA, today represents thousands of lawyers. Its historical course reflects the gradual expansion of the legal profession and at the same time reflects the significant role of its representatives and their different and numerous functions in Greek society. The Association’s action was inextricably linked to the people who undertook to represent it by participating in its Board of Directors. Most of them actively participated in the political and social life of the country, in a series of cultural and social associations and scientists. Among them are distinguished lawyers who have linked their lives to the defense of individual rights and collectives.
In the context of this long democratic tradition, there is no doubt that the image that was given on 11/20/2020 with the behavior of colleagues in the office of the presidency of the DSA explicitly exposes the bar.
This behavior will be judged by the competent judicial and disciplinary bodies and any reference to it will be considered irrelevant. The position imposed by the current historical moment is the expression of the explicit and categorical opposition to the judged conducts and the externalization of the opposition to Greek society, which all lawyers serve in the practice of law according to the Bar Code , as collaborators of justice.
Furthermore, you are aware of the political disagreements I have with the president of the DSA, but you also know that every time we disagreed, it was made public, as well as publicly agreeing and cooperating on institutional matters.
But I will not question your diligence, because we have been cooperating honestly every day for the last three years on most institutional issues, which we constantly resolve with the sole interest of the body we represent.
I must tell you that, as it seems, while the elected public advisers rushed publicly on social media and in the press, with loud statements, to demand the resignation of the president, they did not find the same courage to ask for it directly during the discussion in this Board.
Did something change your mind? I see an elected colleague playing videos of a private moment on social media, thereby satisfying his cannibal instincts or personal political ambitions, in an obvious alliance with journalists: MPs and party factions.
I also wonder, if the colleague accepts the order of a citizen who was harmed by the publication of a video, will he answer that he cannot take it because he does not believe it is worthy of the protection of the law?
Today I heard the president respond that the elected colleague who complains about him publicly invited friends, to his party, to his office to treat them. Isn’t this part of the same behavior as against the law? And, of course, this claim is not compensated, as has been heard. And I say that, not because I’m looking for if he did it right or not, but because obviously this is also a human moment, a private moment.
Also, I do not agree with the opinion supported here by an elected colleague, that there is no private moment in the office of the president of the DSA Such a point of view would only be supported by authoritarian regimes, because the human being is deprived of the right inalienable to the personality, the right to be human.
The question that arises in this case is how far this private moment can go and I believe that we will not agree on these limits.
And we will not agree, because I firmly believe that this place is sacred, it comes from the DSA story by Esslin and Raktivan and extends to Zafeiropoulos, Polydoras, Takis Pappas, Roupakiotis, Paxinos, Adamopoulos, Alexandris, and one must show respect to the office of the president of the Athens Bar Association. Respect in Greek society, which faces daily deaths and thousands of cases.
Ladies and gentlemen, the sea wants respect. As you know my views on the apology, I tell you that from the moment the president apologized, it must be accepted as sincere.
Apologizing is an honest act.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to inform you that already, three weeks ago, I made my resignation from the post of Vice President of the DSA available to the President, considering that a cycle of cooperation and highly productive offer to the bar has ended. , delivery of functioning law firms, continuous effort to improve the operating conditions of the courts and uninterrupted effort of scientific training, training and specialization of lawyers.
As a member of the DSA Board of Directors I will continue to lead the fight and represent the bar. “
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
