Greek journalist claims government lied to protect tax evaders

Greek journalist and Hoc Doc magazine editor Costas Vaxevanis has been charged with breach of privacy and will be brought to trial on Thursday after publishing the names of 2,000 people with accounts with a Swiss bank. While the Greek government is stating that there is no evidence any of the people on the list have broken the law, the list is said to contain the names of notable Greek citizens who are under suspicion of using the accounts for tax evasion and thereby contributing to Greece’s crushing national debt. Greek authorities have been in possession of the list for about two years ago and Vaxevanis has said that government officials should be “in prison” for not disclosing the names on the list. “They were obliged to pass it to parliament or to the justice system,” said Vaxevanis, “The three last governments have lied and have made a mockery of the Greek people with this list.”