Far-rightist Greek newspaper ‘Foni tis Rodopis’ sentenced to prison for fake news

The daily Foni tis Rodopis newspaper, published in Komotini, was punished for the "false and unfounded" news it published against Xanthi Deputy Hüseyin Zeybek.

The court found Hüseyin Zeybek to be right and sentenced Foni tis Rodopis newspaper to one year's imprisonment and to cover all court expenses.

Kostas Gunaris was the lawyer of Hüseyin Zeybek in the case that was held in Komotini on Tuesday, February 22. Former Myki (Mustafçova) Mayor Cemil Kabza, Lawyer Muzaffer Kabza and former Xanthi SIRIZA Deputy Grigoris Stogianidis testified in favor of Hüseyin Zeybek.

While Lefteris Gleridis, the editor-in-chief of Foni tis Rodopis, defended himself without a lawyer, Panos Papadopoulos, the owner of Machitis newspaper published in Xanthi, testified in favor of Gleridis.

 Foni tis Rodopis had written a news article about the deputy Hüseyin Zeybek and others, who attended the funeral ceremony in Glafki (Gökçepınar) village of Ahmet Katunlu, the soldier who lost his life during his military service on July 12, 2016.
Zeybek filed a lawsuit against Foni tis Rodopis, who published the news that allegedly "threw the Greek flag on the coffin, drove the military personnel away from the funeral, and kidnapped the coffin" for "insulting and spreading false news through the press."

Lawyer Kostas Gunaris said that "the news published in Foni tis Rodopis are completely false and provocative", which has been clearly proven.

Reminding that the slightest disrespect to the Greek flag was made in writing by the military officials attending the funeral, Gunaris demanded that the newspaper be punished on charges of "slander" and "fake news".

The head of the court sentenced the newspaper "Foni tis Rodopis" to one year's imprisonment and to cover all court costs.

At the beginning of the hearing, it was noteworthy that the judge who presided over the court said that he wanted to withdraw from the case and another judge continued the case.

As it will be remembered, Ahmet Katunlu from Glafki (Gökçepınar) village of Xanthi died by drowning in the sea he entered on the Kavala - Keramoti beach, where he went with his fellow soldiers on July 12, 2016, while he was doing his military service.

The funeral ceremony of the unfortunate young soldier was held in his village Glafki (Gökçepınar) on Thursday, July 14. Ahmet Katunlu's funeral was attended by many military officials, especially the 4th Corps Commander of the time, Lieutenant General İosif Mavrakis.

After the religious ceremony held at Ahmet Katunlu's house, a senior military officer present at the funeral made a speech and offered his condolences to his family.

After the religious ceremony, Ahmet Katunlu's funeral was carried by the soldiers, his friends and the public. In front of the funeral, there was a military parade guard and other soldiers carrying the Greek flag.

After the funeral prayer, the body was taken to the cemetery on the shoulders of his fellow soldiers.

Three shots were fired into the air for Ahmet Katunlu in the cemetery. Senior military officials entered the Gökçepınar cemetery and followed the religious ceremony closely.

The flag in the ceremony was presented to Ahmet Katunlu's father by an officer.