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The slaps of the court come one after another and one after another the convictions against Panos Kammenos. The former defense minister is now called upon to pay dearly to Andrikos Papandreou, son of Andreas Papandreou, for what he slandered years ago for the famous CDS. It was then that Panos Kammenos accused the Papandreou family of profiting at the expense of Greece.
The court threw a “bell” of 50,000 euros to the president of the Independent Greeks, a compensation that he will have to pay to the brother of the former prime minister, George Papandreou.
According to the court decision, published by the mononews site, the Athens Court of Appeals awarded compensation of 10,000 and 40,000 euros to Andrikos Papandreou, judging that the repeated accusations of the then deputy about Greek insurance premiums were slanderous, insulting and threatening .
With number 7051/2020 published on December 18, the appeals court partially accepted both trials of Mr. Papandreou, reversing the decision of first instance.
It should be noted that the 10,000 euros awarded as compensation for non-pecuniary damage for the first trial of Andrikos Papandreou must be paid with interest calculated from the notification of the lawsuit in the summer of 2011. And the 40,000 euros awarded for the second trial, with interest since the end of 2012.
The lawyers estimate that, until 12/31/2020, the interest alone amounts to 39,300 euros.
If the 4,700 euros that were awarded as court costs for both trials are taken into account, the total amount that Mr. Kammenos must pay to Mr. Papandreou amounts to 94,000 euros.
Furthermore, the court ruled that “there is a risk that the insult to the personality” of Andrikos Papandreou is repeated and therefore “obliges the accused not to insult the plaintiff’s personality, with statements of similar or similar content” to those of CDS which were considered offensive. .
And if Mr. Kammenos does not comply, he will have to pay 2,000 euros each time he insults Mr. Papandreou again.
The sums awarded may be far from what the plaintiff claimed (1.3 million euros in total), but the reasoning for his decision recognizes the insult to his personality and the non-material damage suffered by his “false allegations”. then ND MP who had caused a political storm.
The story of the stormy court dispute
In May 2011 and November 2012, Andrikos Papandreou had filed two claims before the Court of First Instance of various members of Athens.
In the first lawsuit, he claimed that Panos Kammenos, then a New Democracy deputy, “illegally and culpably insulted his personality by making false accusations about him, which the defendant included in an interview he gave on May 19, 2011 on a radio station. radio “. and claimed a monetary compensation of 1,000,000 euros for moral damage.
In the second lawsuit, Andrikos Papandreou argued that Panos Kammenos “again illegally and culpably insulted his personality by making false accusations about him, as well as insulting and threatening phrases that the defendant included in his statements to the press, internet and radio stations.” He claimed a monetary compensation of 300,000 euros for his moral damage.
With ruling number 2644/2013, the court of first instance dismissed the first lawsuit in its entirety and ordered Andrikos Papandreou to pay court costs of 20,000 euros to Panos Kammenos.
Instead, it partially accepted the second claim of the former prime minister’s brother, awarding him compensation of 30,000 euros, with the legal interest.
The plaintiff filed an appeal and the defendant a counterclaim, which has now been resolved by the Athens Court of Appeal.
Both spoke of misinterpretation and application of the law and incorrect assessment of the evidence, asking, each in turn, to “disappear” the first instance decision against them.
The judges indicate in their decision that “the substance of the defendant’s allegations to the plaintiff in relation to the CDS was that Andrikos Papandreou participated as a partner in the foreign companies IJ Partners SA and Unigestion SA.
The defendant linked these companies to the Postal Savings Bank’s CDS purchases in the fall of 2009 and that these purchases were made because the plaintiff had inside information from the then prime minister himself and his brother George Papandreou that bankruptcy was imminent and The appeal of Greece to the International Monetary Fund and that, therefore, the value of the CDs would increase enormously with the corresponding financial benefit of these companies and, consequently, the same and future loss of the Postal Savings Bank that had the bonds of the Greek government “.
According to the reasoning for the decision, Panos Kammenos “claimed that Andrikos Papandreou tried through the CDS to profit from the bankruptcy of the country he knew.” 
And this, as the judges point out, “was perfectly clear in the content of the interviews, publications and statements of the defendant that were the object of the second action against him, although in some of them, the defendant’s reference to the plaintiff’s involvement in the CDS it was not entirely straightforward, but it was done in the form of suspicion, insinuation or question, but still retained its accusatory character against the plaintiff.
According to the court decision, “Mr. Kammenos’s allegations were false, as it turned out that the plaintiff had nothing to do with the purchases of CDS from the Postal Savings Bank, as they also had nothing to do with IJ Partners and Unigestion, which they denied from the beginning. Claim. “
The judges accepted that Panos Kammenos did not know the falsehood of his accusations, but had the erroneous belief that the companies mentioned above had bought the CDS from the Postal Savings Bank and that Mr. Papandreou was a partner in these companies and was involved in relevant transactions.
At the same time, the judges accept that Mr. Kammenos had a legitimate interest as a deputy to make announcements about the CDS transactions, which were also an important economic issue of general interest.
However, as stated in the reasoning of the decision, “his conviction was not justified in view of his long parliamentary experience and studies as an economist and therefore he negligently (negligently) ignored the falsehood of his allegations after the presentation of the allegations “. it was not based on an investigation and was in fact proportional to the seriousness of the content of his allegations, nor was it based on relevant evidence in his power or the projection of these allegations continued and with greater intensity despite the mediation of his categorical refutation by the plaintiff and the alleged buying companies ”.
The judges also refer to the characterizations that Mr. Kammenos “launched” against Mr. Papandreou and his family:
“The statements of Panos Kammenos against the plaintiff also show in several points by the way they were made, the purpose of insulting the plaintiff, with characterizations such as gang, cosa nostra, lamogia.” 
According to the judges, the then parliamentarian made statements that even concealed threats against the brother of the then prime minister. As stated in the decision:
The defendant’s statements also contained threats against the plaintiff that worried the latter and in particular the expressions “we will do the trial under his house”, “we are many”, “they will also appear before the popular justice”, which could be perceived by some of the addressees of these statements as an invitation to avoid legal course and the occurrence of acts of violence automatically against the plaintiff.
On the basis of the evidence, the Athens Court of Appeal ruled that “the defendant is not removed from office, but remains liable for defamation against the plaintiff as a civil offense, as well as insulting and threatening the plaintiff and, accordingly, it is established the illegal and culpable nature of your personal insult.
In addition, the defendant’s conduct caused non-pecuniary damage to the plaintiff, who must receive financial satisfaction based on the previous circumstances of the plaintiff’s personality, the extent of his injury, the defendant’s degree of fault, and the social and economic situation of the defendants. defendants. , for the reasonable amounts of 10,000 euros with respect to the first share and 40,000 euros with respect to the second.
The decision is immediately enforceable, that is, Panos Kammenos must immediately pay compensation and legal costs to Andrikos Papandreou. Unless you appeal to the Supreme Court.
What they said in 2013
In one of the trials, in 2013, Andrikos Papandreou had declared: “He has appointed me a financial criminal.” In fact, I have been an advisor to the investment companies that have been mentioned, but I have never given inside information to harm our country “, clarified Mr. Papandreou addressing the judges who will judge his lawsuit. He even attributed Kammenou’s accusations to reasons of vote manipulation, stating that “by showing that he is fighting with the Papandreou family as a great source of entanglement in the country, he wanted benefit from the votes. “After finishing his interrogation, he explained in front of the television cameras that” I came here to defend my honor and the honor of my family and to respond to slander and lies.
In a written statement issued in the afternoon, A. Papandreou states that: “Mr. Kammenos affirmed that he honors my personality, that he never turned against me and that what is mentioned in the printed and electronic press does not have him as a source.” Everything is judged by the Justice ”.
For his part, the president of ANEL P. Kammenos told the court that for the CDS case a preliminary criminal examination is being carried out, by order of the financial prosecutor. “I fulfilled my duty as a deputy and as a citizen. There are economic interests that try to silence Parliament. I take responsibility for what I have said publicly. “The lawsuits were brought against me in order to stop the criminal and parliamentary investigation of the scandal they have committed,” said Mr. Kammenos.
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